Obituary of John Fry

Watch the Tribute John "J. D." Fry July 05, 1926 - July 07, 2011 Memorial services will be held for John Donald “J. D.” Fry, 85, on Friday, July 15, 2011 at 2:00 pm at First United Methodist Church with Rick Hale, Senior Pastor from Grace Community Church in Roswell officiating. Interment will be at a later date at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Hugo, Oklahoma. Mr. Fry was born in Springfield, Missouri on July 5, 1926 to William Walter and Leona (Merideth) Fry and passed away on July 8, 2011 at Covenant Medical Center in Lubbock, TX. J. D. was a WWII Veteran having served in the U.S. Navy as an Aviation Electrician’s Mate, 3rd class from 1944 until 1946. He served with the Combat Air Service Unit 12 in Guam and was awarded the Victory Medal, the American Campaign Medal and the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal. He came to Lovington in 1957 from Friona, TX, where he began his long legacy of building award winning bands. As many young band directors may have used Lovington as an interim job, J. D. stayed in Lovington for the next 28 years as head band director amassing numerous awards including 41 first division ratings. The “Big Blue Band”, appropriately dubbed by Mr. Fry, marched in the Cotton Bowl Parade in Dallas in ’62,’64,’66 and ’72; the Sun Carnival in El Paso in 1973 and even made a Good Will tour in 1973 to Chihuahua, Mexico. Being a faithful and proud member of the Lovington Lions Club, J. D. took the Big Blue to International gatherings in Dallas and New Orleans in 1975 and 1977, respectively. He was always proud of the fact that his bands were invited back to places where they performed. He retired as High School Band Director in 1985 but continued at Taylor Middle School. He remained as a part-time assistant director and continued helping Ed Osborne, Keith Rall and others with their programs as needed and he took his final curtain call in 2002 and continued to make Lovington his place of retirement. J. D. was inducted into the New Mexico Music Educators Hall of Fame in 1992 and was also honored by the Lovington community in 2004 by renaming the LHS Band Building the J. D. Fry Band Building. He was a member of First United Methodist Church in Lovington. With his love of life and willingness to help others at all times, he greatly affected thousands of lives; mainly his students and close friends such as Mike Donoho, who has assisted with his care for the last several years. He spent the last two years at Desert Gardens Assisted Living in Hobbs until his death. He was preceded in death by his parents but is survived by a host of friends. In lieu of flowers, J. D. requested that any memorials be made to the Lovington High School Band Boosters. There will be a fellowship for friends immediately following the services at the Methodist Church Fellowship Hall. Condolences may be sent to www.kirbysmithrogers.com.