Lucille Opal Fry

Business

Lucille Fry was born in 1915 in Claudell, Kansas, one of nine children. She moved to Manteca in 1929 to live with her married sister. After graduating from Manteca High School in 1931, she met and married Paul H. Fry. He was in the mortuary business with his father, P.L. Fry. Lucille began working in the funeral home while raising a family of three daughters and a son.

In 1951, her father-in-law, P.L. Fry, died and so Lucille and Paul operated the mortuary alone. Lucille performed many of the duties, from removal calls to scheduling funeral times. In 1972, Lucille's husband died, so the P.L. Fry & Son Funeral Service was operated by her. It was at this time that she obtained her Funeral Director’s license and became the first woman elected to the California State Board of Funeral Directors.

During all these years, Lucille was active in numerous local civic and fraternal organizations while being involved in her children’s education as a charter member of both the Lincoln and Yosemite School PTA's. In the 1980's, she purchased another mortuary in Manteca and built a new funeral chapel in Tracy.

Lucille loved her work, spending 12-14 hours a day, seven days a week on the job. She was actively working until 1997, when her health forced her to retire.