Frey, Orlin Frederick (1919-1970)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1970 Jul 16 p. 7

Birth date: 1919 Apr 18

text of obituary:

Heart Ailment Fatal To Pastor, Teacher

Wayland, Iowa. — Memorial services for Orlin F. Frey, 51, of Mt. Morris, Ill. were conducted July 7 at the Eicher Emmanuel Mennonite Church near Noble.

A former pastor and teacher, Mr. Frey died July 4 at St Mary's Hospital in Rochester, Minn. He had retired from teaching two years ago because of a heart ailment resulting from rheumatic fever. He underwent surgery at Mayo Clinic in 1965, when artificial valves were placed in his heart.

A native of this community, Mr. Frey was a graduate of Bluffton College and Mennonite (Bethany) Biblical Seminary. He held Mennonite pastorates at Goessel, Kan. and Topeka, Ind., and served Church of the Brethren congregations at Ashland, Ohio and West Branch, Ill. Later he taught high school science and mathematics.

Survivors include his wife, Esther, and three children, William, Mary Jo and Samuel, all of the home at Mt. Morris; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Otto Frey, and a brother, Vernon, all of the Noble community.

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1970 Jul 30 p. 11

ORLIN FREDERICK FREY

Orlin Frederick Frey, son of Otto Frederick and Mary Ann Wittmer Frey, was born at Noble, Iowa, on April 18, 1919, and passed away at Rochester, Minn. on July 4, 1970, at the age of 51 years.

He was baptized into the Eicher Emmanuel Mennonite Church on Aug. 7, 1932, by the late Rev. A. H. Miller.

He was graduated from the Eicher Grade School, Wayland High School, and Washington Junior College. He earned the Bachelor of Science Degree at Bluffton College and the Bachelor of Divinity Degree at Mennonite (Bethany) Biblical Seminary.

On July 22, 1950, he was married to Esther Ellen Meyers. They have three children: William Otto, 18; Mary Johanna, 15; and Samuel Vernon, 12.

Orlin served as pastor of the Goessel (Kansas) Mennonite Church, the Topeka (Indiana) Mennonite Church, the Ashland Dickey (Ohio) Church of the Brethren, and the West Branch (Illinois) Church of the Brethren. Later he taught high school science and mathematics.

He twice suffered attacks of rheumatic fever, at the ages of 13 and 17. Despite extensive damage to two heart valves, he regained considerable strength and led quite a normal life for some 25 years. In 1965 Mayo Clinic surgeons operated and replaced the diseased valve tissue with artificial heart valves, enabling Orlin to live several years longer.

After three years in school work, he became so disabled that he had to retire from teaching. During the past two years he continued to be active in several areas. He served as associate moderator of the Mt. Morris (Illinois) Church of the Brethren and taught an adult-Sunday school class. He was treasurer of Boy Scout Troop 66. He handled all the family finances, made the major decisions, continued to teach and advise his children, and carried many other responsibilities.

During the past six weeks his condition worsened rapidly. He spent the last two weeks of May at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, returned home for a month, and reentered St. Mary’s on Sunday, June 28. All that was medically possible was done for him. Death came easily and quietly at 11:30 Saturday morning, July 4.

Orlin requested that his body be left to the Section of Anatomy at Mayo Foundation. He considered this a matter of stewardship; out of his gratitude for the knowledge which physicians had gained from research, he wished his body to continue to be useful in research and in training other doctors. He directed that his eyes supply corneal transplants, that others might have sight restored.

Orlin is survived by his parents and his brother Vernon, of Noble, and by his wife and three children of Mt. Morris, Ill.

Memorial services were held at the Eicher Emmanuel Mennonite Church near Noble on July 7, with Rev. Vernon Gerig of the Sugar Creek Mennonite Church in charge and Rev. Walter Neufeld of the Wayland Mennonite Church assisting. A memorial service also was held at the Church of the Brethren in Mt. Morris, Ill. on Thursday evening, July 9.

The Mennonite obituary: 1970 Aug 11 p. 497