Elizabeth Jean Fry

Elizabeth Jean Fry, known to family and friends as Betty, passed away peacefully on April 27, 2022 at the age of 79. Born in 1943 to Lowell and Mildred Striegel, Betty grew up on the family farm in Harper, Iowa with her six sisters and one brother. As an adult, she left the farm for the big city of Iowa City where she met and married John Fry. They had three children together to whom Betty was a loving and devoted mother. Over the years their family ventured from Iowa to Missouri and then Oklahoma where they settled in the suburb of Edmond. Betty spent nearly 30 years with Edmond Public Schools as a cafeteria worker, eventually becoming cafeteria manager at Cimarron Middle School.

After retiring from the school system, she spent as much time as she could doting on her grandchildren and enjoying time with friends. Betty made many friends through the years and whether they were going out to dinner and a movie, attending a potluck, or playing Bunko, she could always be heard with her distinctive laugh. Her greatest source of joy, however, was her family. A constant presence at the extracurricular activities of her children and grandchildren, she cheered at countless football games and applauded during numerous orchestra concerts, all with the loving support that only a dedicated mother and grandmother could provide.

With as much as her family was her source of joy, her greatest source of strength was her faith. She was an active member of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Edmond where she often served as eucharistic minister at Sunday mass. Upon moving to Florida later in life to live with her son and daughter-in-law, she continued to practice her faith at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Winter Park where her son serves as deacon, providing her another cherished opportunity to support one of her children.

Betty enjoyed the light-heartedness of life. She was an avid lover of pork tenderloin sandwiches and all kinds of pie. If she found something that tasted especially delicious, she would describe it as "scrumptious." She never met a reality TV show she didn't like and could spend hours on the phone with her sister in Wisconsin watching TV together. She found joy in decorating her house for the appropriate season or holiday and would especially deck it out for Christmas. She enjoyed painting her nails and loved to have her nail color match her outfit. But most of all, she was a dedicated viewer of the Hallmark channel. In fact, if she had already seen the movie playing on one Hallmark channel, she would switch to the second Hallmark channel and watch the one on there. Needless to say, she will be remembered for the cheerful attitude she had toward living her life.

Betty was preceded in death by her beloved daughter, Angela Robinson, as well as one brother, Laverne, one sister, Marlene Klein, three brothers-in-law and one grand-kitty, Gracie. She is survived by her son, Mark and his wife Gloria, daughter Malinda, grandchildren Anthony and Courtney Robinson, five sisters, Marty Chiovaro, Shirley Shuda, Doris (Robert) Lohrman, Anna Peiffer, and Rose (Rich) Anderson, as well as many dear nieces and nephews, and three more grand-kitties.

A vigil will be held in the evening on Wednesday, May 18, from 6pm to 8pm at Newcomer Funeral Home (Winter Park Chapel), followed by mass on Thursday, May 19, at 10:30 AM at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Winter Park, FL. An additional mass will be held on Wednesday, June 8 at 11:30 AM at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Edmond, OK. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Parkinson Association of Central Florida or the Parkinson's Foundation of Oklahoma.

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