On Saturday, Oct. 4, Stephen Carl Fry, known to his friends and family as Steve, passed away. Steve was born on April 13, 1948, in Long Beach, California, to Carl and Carrie (Hale) Fry. The family soon moved to Alton, Kansas, where his father joined a family farm. Steve loved the farm and, although he lived in many other places, he never lost his Kansas roots.
As a youth, Steve was in 4-H and Future Farmers of America and worked on farms for a time after high school. Realizing he wanted a different career, Steve attended trade school and became an electrician. With continuing education, he became a master electrician. His work took him to many places, including Branson, Missouri, where he worked in theaters with many popular entertainers. Steve loved to tell stories about some of the famous people he met in the line of his electrical work.
Estes Park became Steve’s favorite place to live and work. He never wanted to live anywhere else. Steve followed the work where it led. When DIA was built, Steve and his crew wired the lighting in the train tunnels that connect terminals and the approach lighting on the runways.
After working for Kiewit in later years, which sent him to Oklahoma and Texas as a field engineer for power station construction, Steve returned to Estes Park to reopen his business as Watts of Power. He answered calls from people who need electrical work and never had to advertise, as his satisfied customers were his best marketing.
As for special interests, Steve enjoyed living close to and driving through Rocky Mountain National Park, where he looked for turkeys and moose, traveled to new places, including all 50 states, fed his outdoor birds, and kept an eye out for rabbits.
Steve was preceded in death by his parents, Carl and Carrie Fry, his first wife, Sherri Fry, and his son, Lance Fry. Those living to remember him include his wife, Marilyn Irwin, in Estes Park, his sister, Sue VonderOhe, in California, his brother and sister-in-law, Stan and Kim Fry, in Kansas, a niece and two nephews, grandnieces, a grandnephew, and his cat, Ellie, as well as a multitude of friends.
A celebration of Steve’s life will be held at the Presbyterian Church of the Rockies Fellowship Hall on Nov. 1, from 1 to 3 p.m.
Anyone wishing to make a gift in Steve’s memory is encouraged to donate to the Rocky Mountain Conservancy and/or the Presbyterian Community Church of the Rockies.