Wayne Lyle Fry

Wayne L. Fry, age 90 of Tracy, MN, formerly of San Francisco, CA, died Friday, January 11, 2013 at the Colonial Manor Nursing Home in Balaton, MN. A visitation will be held Monday, January 14, 2013 from 5:00 until 7:00 PM at the Almlie Funeral Home in Tracy, followed by a funeral service at 7:00 PM. Interment will be in the Richland Township Cemetery near Inwood, IA at 11:00 Am Tuesday, January 15, 2013. The Almlie Funeral Home of Tracy is handling the arrangements. Wayne Lyle Fry was born October 6, 1922 to Alvin and Irene (Helgerson) Fry in Inwood, IA, Lyon County. He was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith and attended country school near Inwood. He then attended Washington High School in Sioux Falls, SD. Wayne graduated from George High School, in George, IA as Valedictorian of the class of 1940. He then attended St. Olaf College before enlisting for military service. He served in the U.S. Army from 1943 until 1945 in the military police at Fort Worth, TX. Upon receiving his honorable discharge Wayne returned to college at the University of Minnesota and received his Bachelor of Science degree in Botany in 1945. He went on to receive his PH. D. at Cornell University in New York in 1952. During those years he was part of the Cornell-Glasgow Exchange Fellowship from 1951 through 1952 in Glasgow, Scotland. After he got his PH. D. Wayne became a professor of Biology and Paleobotany at the University of California-Berkeley, where he remained until his retirement in 1989. Over the years he took part in the Ottawa Geological Survey in Ottawa, Canada from1953-1957, was a delegate to the International Geological Conference in New Delhi, India in 1963, and was part of the National Science Foundation from 1967-1969, as its coordinator for foreign activities and education, which took him to India, Japan and Turkey. He was a visiting professor in Johannesburg, South Africa, at Cornell University and Harvard University and took part in geological survey fieldwork in British Columbia, Canada and at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. Wayne was a member of the Church of the Advent of Christ the King in San Francisco, CA, where he lived for 54 years. He enjoyed stamp collecting, cobalt glassware, motorcycles, the opera, wining and dining, and traveling the world. As his health failed him, he became a resident of the Prairie Home Hospice in Marshall, MN, so as to be near his remaining family. In October of 2011, he moved to the Colonial Manor Nursing Home in Balaton, MN, where he died on Friday, January 11, 2013 at the age of 90. Wayne is survived by his sister, Lois Staufacker of Tracy, MN; two nephews, Steven (Pauline) Staufacker of Rapid City, SD and Craig (Mary) Staufacker of Garvin, MN; three nieces, Kristi (Ron) Krause of Lake Benton, MN, Janine (Steve Albrecht) Staufacker of Maplewood, MN and Kerry (Chris) Harrelson of Columbia, SC and their families; Jim Mullay and Curt Chandler of Henderson, NV, all his Twin Peaks friends in San Francisco, CA and the many friends within the Church of the Advent Community. His parents, brother-in-law, Glennis Staufacker and many dear friends preceded him in death.