Remembering Jeremy Frye

It's hard to believe it was four years today that my friend Jeremy Frye passed away following a hiking accident in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. An accomplished hiker, Jeremy was spending the day traversing the mountains and trails he loved so well.

Jeremy (I and many others just called him Frye) grew up with me. For most of his middle school and high school years, I was his Sunday School teacher. When our student choir ministry took summer mission trips, he and I always ended up loading and unloading equipment (Frye would do most anything so he didn't have to sing or "dance"). While he was in college, I hired him to work with me as a recreation assistant (since we lived near each other I offered to let him ride with me on his first day of orientation but when I got to his house he was still asleep). Eventually, we both ended up working at Sevier Heights together.

The last conversation I had with Jeremy was a phone call on Thursday evening that went something along the lines of:
Me: Hey Jeremy, can you make sure the wheelchairs get back in the rotunda after the wedding?
Frye: Sure, I've got a couple more things to get done and then I'll take care of them.
Me: Thanks a bunch. Have a great weekend.
Frye: You too, sir. You have a good evening.

He often called me "sir". Not because he had too. He spoke that way to lots of people. He was just a very well-mannered, likable guy. How many guys in their early 20's come by your house to see your first-born son and then willingly hold your newborn for a picture? Jeremy Frye did.

As I remember Jeremy Frye, I'm reminded of the following and so much more:
•He loved his family
•He smiled all the time
•He loved the game of soccer (especially World Cup), hiking in the mountains and firearms
•Man, could he sweat
•He could prepare two softball fields for play faster than anybody I've ever known
•Everyone liked him; if you didn't like Jeremy Frye, you were the one with the problem
•He would have been a great husband and dad
•He was one of my all-time favorite people (maybe you're not supposed to have favorites, but he was one of mine and he knew it)

On this day in 2008, I had the horrible privilege of being in Jeremy's room with his family and some other close friends as he breathed his last breath on this earth. It was a moment and an event I will never forget. But there was, and is, comfort in knowing that his eternity was secured.

And today is a great day to remember Jeremy Frye.