LESLIE McGEE FRY
Born March 13, 1912, Louisiana, Missouri
Died October 13, 1993, Reno, Nevada

LESLIE McGEE FRY was the son of Octa McGee Fry, one of the early settlers of Pike County, Missouri, and Sarah Jane Wilcoxen, the daughter of early settlers near Clarksville, Missouri. Leslie M. Fry attended Buffalo County School, a little white country schoolhouse with less than twenty students. He graduated as valedictorian from Louisiana High School and went on to the University of Missouri in 1930.
On May 2, 1934, he was commissioned in the U. S. Army as a 2nd Lt. in the Field Artillery. In September 1935, he went on active duty with the Civilian Conservation Corps. His first assignments were Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, and Marysville, Missouri. Subsequent CCC assignments took him to Moapa, Nevada, where he met Jean Sauer, a school teacher at Overton, Nevada. They were married May 2, 1936.
In December, 1937, he left the Civilian Conservation Crops. and returned to law school at the University of Louisville, Kentucky. In 1939 he received a Bachelor's of Law Degree (LLB) updated to a Juris Doctor Degree in 1969.
From 1939 through 1941 Leslie M. Fry practiced law in Hartford, Kentucky, in a partnership with Walter Continna representing farmers and bootleggers.
On April 15, 1941, Leslie Fry was recalled to active duty as a reserve officer with the 36th Field Artillery, 37th Infantry Division at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. He was sent to the Pacific on May 26, 1942. His overseas assignments with Field Artillery units included New Zealand, Fiji, Guadalcanal, New Georgia, and Bougainville. In the Philippines he assumed command of the 140th Field Artillery. After the war he remained in the active reserves serving as director of the Field Artillery school for Nevada, California, Utah and Arizona. In April, 1967, he was commissioned a Brigadier General in the Nevada National Guard.
After the war, Leslie M. Fry returned to Reno, Nevada, where he practiced law with George Lohse as Lohse & Fry. In 1963 he established his own firm and in 1965 formed a partnership with his son, Leslie Mack Fry. Leslie M. Fry had been a lawyer in the State of Nevada since 1946 and was authorized to practice in the United Sates Federal District Court and before the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Fry has always been active in civic and community activities. From 1930 to 1931 he served as national president of the Future Farmers of America.
From 1946 on he took an active role with the Boy Scouts of America as a Cubmaster, Vice President and President of the Nevada Area Council, Regional and National Boy Scout Representative and as a member of the Special Awards Committee for Region XII. He is a recipient of the prestigious Silver Beaver and Silver Antelope Awards.
He served as county chairman of the Washoe County Republicans from 1956 to 1958 and from 1964 to 1966.
As a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Leslie M. Fry served as Post Commander of Battleborn Post #9211, Department of Nevada's Chaplain, Department of Nevada Senior Vice Commander, Department of Nevada Commander, and as a member of the VFW National Council of Administration, National Resolutions Committee, National Rules and Procedure Committee, National Constitution and By-Laws Committee, and as the National VFW Junior Vice Commander-in-Chief and Senior Vice Commander-in-Chief. In 1966, Leslie M. Fry became the National Commander-in-Chief of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, His years with the VFW brought him into personal contact with Presidents Johnson, Ford and Nixon and enabled him to travel worldwide. He met with foreign dignitaries and heads of state, including Pope John Paul, Franco of Spain and President Thieu of Viet Nam. After his service as the National Commander-in- Chief of the VFW he remained active with the VFW, continuing to serve on the National Security Committee of the VFW and on the Advisory Committee for National Memorials and Cemeteries.
President Nixon appointed Mr. Fry to serve on the American Battle Monuments Committee in 1970, a position he held for six years.
Mr. Fry was a member of St. John's Presbyterian Church, Reno's Host Lyons Club, and Reno Executives Club, serving on their Board of Directors and as their President in 1972. He was a member of Mount Rose Lodge #40 F&AM, the Scottish Rite, Kerak Temple (AADNMS) of the Shrine and the Nevada State Bar Association. In 1976 he received the renown Service to Mankind Award from the Sparks Sertoma Club.
On January 1, 1990, Leslie M. Fry formally retired from practicing law but remained as a law consultant with his son, Robert J. Fry.
He is survived by a nephew, David Hunter, three children, 16 grandchildren, and 5 great-grandchildren.