Print This Page

Private Second Class Everette Walter Frye, Sr.

A color headshot of an elderly African American man. He has a beard and is wearing glasses and a clerical collar.
  • Unit: Battery D, 15th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion
  • Date of Birth: November 7, 1932
  • Entered the Military: March 26, 1953
  • Date of Death: April 3, 2014
  • Hometown: Richmond, Virginia
  • Place of Death: Springfield, Massachusetts
  • Award(s): Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal
  • Cemetery: Section 9, Row F, Site 524. Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Agawam, Massachusetts
Contributed by Evelyn Dorsey, Betty Du, Zoe Hartman, and Samantha Vo
Mentored by Mr. Brian Sheehy
North Andover High School (Andover, Massachusetts)
2024/2025

Early Life

Everette Walter Frye was born on November 7, 1932, in Richmond, Virginia, to Edmonia F. Brooks and William Frye. He had two siblings: a sister, Edna, and a brother, William. At the age of four, Frye lost his father, and the family moved in with their maternal grandmother, Sallie. His grandmother took in laundry at home, and his mother cleaned houses. 

When Frye was 13, his mother remarried James Brooks. Frye graduated from Armstrong High School in Richmond in 1950. Afterward, he worked at businesses such as Willey Drug and Linoleum Specialty in Richmond.

A snippet from the 1940 Census.
The 1940 census shows Frye, his mother, and siblings living with their grandmother. National Archives and Records Administration.

Homefront

Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia, was involved in wartime manufacturing, supplying the U.S. military with artillery and naval shells. In February 1948, a 76-year-old bridge trestle used by the Southern Railway to haul coal and iron across the James River between the Old Dominion Iron and Steel Mill and Tredegar Iron Works was removed. A fire in 1909 had destroyed the bridge, and the remaining structures were deemed a fire hazard and abandoned. 

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, African Americans from the South began migrating north as part of the Second Great Migration for better economic opportunities and to escape racial injustice and violence. This resulted in a large increase in the African American population of Richmond. The men found work in industrial sectors such as factories and shipyards, and the women often found jobs as cooks and laundresses. Faced with unfair housing and segregation, many African Americans who migrated to Richmond settled in areas like North Richmond and Jackson Ward.

Later in the 1960s, Virginia’s voting system was changed to at-large, meaning political representatives are elected to serve an entire area instead of an area’s subdivision. Influential White citizens of Richmond did not want a big city with a diverse population to have power, which thereby lessened the say of African Americans in the area. 

A black and white aerial image of an abandoned train trestle and several warehouses. There are other bridges, smokestacks, and a city line in the distance.
The bridge trestle before removal, 1948. Richmond Times Dispatch.

Military Experience

Frye enlisted in the U.S. Army on March 26, 1953, in Richmond, Virginia, at 21. He was part of Battery D, 15th Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion. He served in Korea for just over one year. According to a former unit commander and an Army field manual, his unit supported other units by reinforcing field artillery fire and directly attacking enemy targets. 

On February 19, 1955, he left active duty for the U.S. Army Reserve in Fort Knox, Kentucky. He was awarded the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal.

A typed page with information about Frye's military service.
Everette Frye’s separation document with portions redacted for privacy. National Archives and Records Administration.

Veteran Experience

After the war, Frye married Vivian L. Law on January 22, 1954, and had a daughter, Acquetta, and a son, Everette, Jr. His main focus after the war was his Christian faith. Frye graduated from Southern Connecticut State College in 1974, earning his Master of Divinity degree. He later received his Doctor of Ministry (Cum Laude) in Psychology and Pastoral Counseling from Andover Newton Theological Seminary.

In 1983, Frye moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, and became the pastor of the First United Baptist Church. He then moved to Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1984, where he became pastor of the Zion Baptist Church and raised $40,000 to expand the church. Before retiring, he worked as a senior pastor at the Bethlehem Baptist Community Church in Holyoke, Massachusetts. In all, he pastored six churches across three different denominations throughout New England.

He also served as president of the Pastors’ Council of Greater Springfield, Massachusetts, president of the Cambridge Clergy Council, and Chaplain for the Massachusetts State Police.

A black and white headshot of a young Black man with an afro. He is wearing a dark suit and tie.
Frye’s yearbook photo from when he graduated from Southern Connecticut College, 1974. Southern Connecticut State University Archive.
A color image of a young Black couple. The woman on the left is wearing a black dress with a black hat trimmed in white fur. She has a pearl necklace on. The man is in a suit vest and pants with a matching blue striped tie and white dress shirt. They are sitting next to each other.
Frye and his wife, Vivian. Henderson Funeral Home and Cremation Services.
An older Black couple is standing next to each other. They are in formal attire and smiling at the camera.
Frye stands for a photo with his wife, Vivian Frye. Henderson Funeral Home and Cremation Services.

Commemoration

Frye died on April 3, 2014, in Springfield, Massachusetts. He left behind his wife of 60 years, as well as his mother, children, four grandchildren, and one great-grandson. He was buried in the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery.

An arched gray marble tombstone engraved with a cross at the top and the words, “Everette W Frye Sr PVT US ARMY KOREA NOV 7 1932 APR 3 2014.”
Frye’s Tombstone in the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery. Find a Grave.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

“Armstrong High To Graduate 184 Students In Exercise at Mosque Tomorrow Night.” Richmond News Leader [Richmond, VA], June 7, 1950. Newspapers.com (760844620).   

Everette Walter Frye. 1951 Richmond City Directory. https://ancestry.com.

Everette Walter Frye. 1953 Richmond City Directory. https://ancestry.com.

Everette Walter Frye. DD-214. Department of the Army. National Archives and Records Administration – St. Louis.

Everett Walter Frye. Virginia, U.S., Birth Records, 1912-2015, Delayed Birth Records, 1721-1920. https://ancestryclassroom.com.

Everett Walter Frye. Virginia, U.S., Marriage Records, 1936-2014. https://ancestryclassroom.com.

The Laurel. New Haven, Connecticut: Southern Connecticut State University, 1974. https://collections.ctdigitalarchive.org/node/1262909.

Virginia. Richmond City. 1940 U.S Census. Digital images. https://ancestryclassroom.com. 

“Vital Statistics. ” The Richmond News Leader [Richmond, VA]. Newspapers.com (760935534).

Secondary Sources

Dabney, Virginlus. Richmond: The Story of a City. University of Virginia Press, 1990.

“Edmonia (Dance) Frye Brooks.” Northern Indiana Funeral Care. Accessed October 19, 2024. https://www.northernindianafuneralcare.com/obituary/EdmoniaDanceFrye-Brooks. 

“Edna Marie Metoyer.” Find a Grave. Updated September 30, 2022. Accessed October 20, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/244041956/edna_marie_metoyer.  

“Everette W. Frye, Sr.” Veterans Legacy Memorial, National Cemetery Administration. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://www.vlm.cem.va.gov/EVERETTEWFRYESR/884c33.  

Light Antiaircraft Artillery (Automatic Weapons). Department of the Army, July 1956. https://www.bits.de/NRANEU/others/amd-us-archive/Fm44-2%2856%29.pdf.

Lombard, Hamilton. “Richmond’s quiet transformation.” Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, University of Virginia. Updated April 7, 2015. Accessed October 28, 2024. https://www.coopercenter.org/research/richmonds-quiet-transformation. 

McClymont, James R. “Battery D, 15th AAA AW Battalion, In Close Support.” The Antiaircraft Journal, October 1951. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA499892.pdf. 

“Our Pastors (past and present).” Zion Baptist Church. Last modified 2024. Accessed November 12, 2024. https://www.zionbaptistlynnma.org/our_history 

“Rev. Dr. Everette W. Frye, Sr.” Mass Live. Accessed October 18, 2024. https://obits.masslive.com/us/obituaries/masslive/name/everette-frye-obituary?id=10334030.  

“Rev. Everette Walter Frye Sr.” Find a Grave. Updated May 3, 2014. Accessed October 20, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/129129407/everette_walter_frye.  

“Tredegar Iron Works.” American Battlefield Trust. Accessed October 30, 2024. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/tredegar-iron-works. 

“Vivian Frye.” Henderson Funeral Home. Accessed October 20, 2024. https://www.hendersonsfh.com/obituaries/Vivian-Frye?obId=27951091.  

“William Daniel ‘Willie’ Frye.” Find a  Grave. Updated December 26, 2011. Accessed October 20, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/247791261/william_daniel_frye.  


This profile was funded by a grant from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. The opinions, findings, and conclusions stated herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.