WLKM Radio 95.9 FM
Kathryn M. (Plattner) Fry, born on November 11, 1924 at home in Sturgis, died peacefully on Monday, November 18, 2024, exactly one week after she celebrated her 100th birthday. She was preceded in death by her parents, Pearl (Ritter) and Vern Plattner, her sisters, brother, and husband.
The youngest of five children, Kathryn followed the lead of her brother, Bud, as he created scenarios for them to act out (a favorite was playing butcher shop with earthworms) or wandered the farm. She counted her three older sisters as role models.
Growing up on a farm during the Depression, Kathryn experienced no privations as there was always food and heat. She recalled the benefits of electricity being installed in her parents’ home in 1936. Her parents’ first car was a 1930 four-door Chevy which sped along at the breakneck speed of 35 mph.
Kathryn attended the Hibbard Country School on Airline Road., a short one-half mile trek from her home (no hills—perfectly level) and entered Sturgis High school as a Freshman, graduating in 1942. She married Ray M. Fry, whom she’d met through her brother, in March of 1944, and they celebrated their 72nd anniversary before he died in 2016.
Kathryn and Ray had 4 children (Coral in 1945, David in 1948, Deanna in 1953, and Douglas in 1957). She spent the first few decades as a homemaker (she was a brilliant cook, just like her mother, a skill Kathryn has passed on to her granddaughter) and farm wife (raising chickens, assisting with morning and evening milking chores, and caring for animals in every sort of weather). Other than chickens, dairy cows, and hogs, their acreage was populated by numerous cats and dogs. She later worked for GF Business in Sturgis for 17 years.
They belonged to a square dance club in the early years of their marriage and a travel club later. In their camper, they traveled to Alaska and all over the Continental US to visit friends, children, and grandchildren, who had been a main focus of her life since 1979.
During these years they also restored their farmhouse, which had been without plumbing and electricity when they moved in with their 6-month old daughter in 1945.
Kathryn’s outstanding legacy was her acceptance and welcoming of all people she met—often friends of her children who brought them home for weekend visits from college–regardless of their “labels” (LGBT, ethnicity, skin color, religion or lack thereof, or occupation).
Survivors include Coral (Bill Pattee), David (Jeanne), Deanna (Greg Allan), Doug, Cal and Cyndy Stacker, seven grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.
Visitation is scheduled for Friday, November 22 from 5 to 7 PM, and the funeral service at 11 AM Saturday, November 23, both at Hackman Chapel, 114 S. Nottawa Street in Sturgis, MI. Luncheon at St. John’s Episcopal Church (110 S. Clay, Sturgis) will follow the service and interment at Toby Cemetary on Saturday around 1 PM.
Donations may be made in Kathryn’s name to Fisher House Foundation (Helping Military Families), 12300 Twinbrook Pkwy, Suite 410, Rockville, MD 20852; Breakthrough T1D, formerly JDRF, PO Box 5042, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5042 (make checks out to T1D, MN/Dakota chapters); OR Animal Rescue Fund, 55979 Blossom Rd., Colon, MI 49040.
We encourage relatives and friends to share memories and condolences at www.hackmanfamilyfuneralhomes.com.
