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Jackie Lee “Jack” Frohriep, 79, of Sturgis, passed away peacefully early Sunday morning, Nov. 6, 2011, surrounded by his wife and children, following a courageous two-month battle after open heart surgery.
Jack has entered into eternal glory with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and has been reunited with loved ones gone before.
He was born Feb. 12, 1932, in Sturgis, the only child of the late Harry and Ruth (Holsinger) Frohriep.
Jack was a lifelong Sturgis resident and a graduate of Sturgis High School with the class of 1950, where he excelled in athletics including wrestling, track and football. He played football at the collegiate level at both Valparaiso College and Air Force and continued his involvement in sports, playing fast-pitch softball as a pitcher for the Orange Machine.
On Feb. 11, 1956, he married Barbara Jean Paxon in Sturgis.
Jack was a talented auto body technician by trade and had been employed by several area body shops including Fennell’s Auto Body, Furniss Ford and Frank Goodwin Ford Body Shops before finally opening Jack Frohriep Body Shop in 1977, a business he operated until his retirement and sale of the business in 1992.
Jack was an active lifelong member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Sturgis, where he had served as an usher, sang in the choir and was an original board member of Trinity Lutheran School.
He was proud to have served his country in the U.S. Air Force from 1951-1955 during the Korean War, earning the rank of Airman Second Class. Jack enjoyed fishing, playing golf, ceramics, gardening and his latest hobby was building stone birdhouses.
He is survived by his loving and dedicated wife of 55 years, Barbara; three daughters, Kim (Tim) Sease of Xenia, Ohio, Deborah (David) Hochstetler of Sturgis and Jill (Dave) Stephayn of Kalamazoo; a son, Jack Frohriep of Grand Blanc; seven grandchildren, Dave (Lisa) Blouin of South Bend, Ind., Betsy (Chad) Muterspaw of Xenia, Lynsey (Dave) Stapleton of Traverse City, Casey Hochstetler of Elkhart, Ind., Nicholas Messer of Dayton, Ohio, Taylor Boudi of Kalamazoo and Grace Rummery of Paw Paw; and seven great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Wednesday at Hackman Family Funeral Homes — Hackman Chapel, 114 S. Nottawa St., Sturgis.
Funeral services celebrating the life of Jack Frohriep will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Sturgis. The Rev. Calvin Kolzow and the Rev. James Balzer will officiate. A graveside committal will follow the service at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Sturgis.
The family suggests those wishing to make a memorial donation in Mr. Frohriep’s memory consider Trinity Lutheran Church or Trinity Lutheran School 406 S. Lakeview Ave., Sturgis, MI 49091.
His obituary is also at www.hackmanfamilyfuneralhome.com, where personal messages of support may be left for the family.
