CELEBRATION OF THE AMAZING LIVES OF MARION AND CYRIL FRY FILLED WITH DRY WIT, FONDNESS AND A COMMUNITY’S DEEP APPRECIATION
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
GRAVENHURST — If there was a fly on the wall at yesterday’s celebration of life for Marion and Cyril it would have had giant ears.
The kind that became synonymous in the 1970s when Cyril clowned in Gravenhurst parades — and at other times when he peddled down Muskoka Road towering over everyone while riding a penny-farthing bike as chair of the town’s 100th anniversary.
“My parents would have loved this,” said son Alastair Fry at the Opera House celebration of life where he and his sister enlightened the 200 on hand with stories and history most knew too little abut.
“Dad would have loved to have been up here on stage — with mom beside him fact-checking him.”
“It was wonderful,” said long-time friend Barb Christensen. They did so much for Gravenhurst.”
“Delightful afternoon,” Linda Hansen (Shay) wrote in the guest book.
“I loved hearing the stories,” added Candice Jones. They were two of the nicest people I’ve ever known.”
“Best teacher ever,” wrote Heather White.
“Loyal” is how Bill Tinslay described Cyril.
It was like old home week and school reunion.
“This is what we expected and got,” said Alastair. “Everyone mingling and sharing stories of Marion and Cyril.”
Earle Laycock, a GHS grad, was so touched he had to share a story on stage about a slide that showed up on the screen.
It showed a column Cyril had written in his Gravenhurst News column the Ivory Tower mentioning how Laycock had presented him with a book about a scientist on the Manhattan Project who was a jokester not unlike Fry. And it touched Cyril.
Laycock, too, said he was happy to hear all the stories about the couple he barely knew outside of class until years later when they kept up contact.
Because, like most, Laycock said knew too precious little and would loved to have known more to engage with them at different levels of conversation.
His sentiments were widely shared along with a few tears.
Few knew that Marion’s family were related to the J.M. Schneider hot-dog inventor in her hometown of Kitchener where her father also worked at the Canadian meat giant.
Or that Cyril, who was born in Brantford on Valentine’s Day in 1926 could have been named after Rudolph Valentino the silent film star.
And that the couple 41 days apart at birth met in Huntsville when she had biked there from Kitchener and he was at a cottage.
Or that she once swallowed a safety pin and he won a singing contest age 5.
Two people who affected change in Gravenhurst and meticulously documented it helping start the Archives in 1978 and co-published the Gravenhurst News 1967-’81.
Before their more than 70 years here, the Frys grew up in wartime. He the son of a British father who suffered the Depression; and she spent the war working as a “Farmerette” to help the allied effort at home.
Cyril, an engineer, naturalist and environmentalist who planted odd species trees in Marion’s gardens and brought home skunks from a cold school at Christmas, got his pilot’s licence (his father worked at an aircraft manufacturer), urged an uncle to set up hostel, rode alone from Brantford to Peterborough at age 15 and at 16 with a friend 1,000 miles to Montreal.
Marion and Cyril Wed in 1944 after both graduating from UofT, respectively as an occupational therapist and an engineer.
After a few years in Welland in 1950 they lived in London briefly where he worked in R&D at a plastics company, which also employed the future Margaret Thatcher.
Back in Canada they narrowed job searches down to Gravenhurst where Cyril succeeded Frank Miller at Rubberset and Marion worked at the TB hospital.
Later Cyril followed Miller at GHS after the future premier moved on to Bracebridge and car business.
“Gravenhurst was a good fit for them,” said Alastair. “The right sized town and they were here at the right time.”
Gravenhurst was booming after the Second World and the Frys embraced the challenge rolling up their sleeves and engaging in every opportunity that suited their wide ranging interests.
Whether it was helping with Music on the Barge and when the Community Concert Association became the Muskoka Concert Association, starting the newspaper with John Christensen or going on teaching exchanges back to London in 1968 with their three kids Jill, Alastair and Gretta and alone to China in 1987 at agricultural college where both taught as part of a Rotary program when he retired.
A much travelled life that included leading student trips at March breaks, the travel bug bit them in retirement as they visited almost 50 countries on all the continents except Antarctica.
Including seven trips to Australia and New Zealand to visit daughter Gretta and her family.
Sailing was another passion they indulged in building a couple of sail boats. And along with Christensen they formed the “Walking, hiking, marching, paddling and save White Lake Society” trek, which held its annual walk Saturday. The Frys also were instrumental in a couple of books on Gravenhurst with Archives including “Light of the Other Days.”
Cyril was also renowned for his dry humour and wit for which he was famous, even MCing a couple time at the Leacock Humour Awards in Orillia.
In 1978 Marion and Cyril were honoured for the 60 years of heritage perseveration by Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor.
Richard Corcelli remarked that “most of our characters in Gravenhurst are disappearing and two of our primary characters have just recently passed away. And what a loss for this community. They represented almost everything that Gravenhurst stands for. And our community will miss them very much.”
He went on to list a few others “that Marion and Cyril are part of that pantheon”: Art Coon, Scotty Duncan, Gord Simpson, Baden Cosby, Shorty Kelly, Hughie Clairmont, Mae Lindsell and Gordon Sloan.
“And now Marion and Cyril have joined them. And what list of people we had that made such a contribution to this community. Unlike any other I have been in.”
“They will always be part of Gravenhurst,” concluded Diane Harrop in the guest book.
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