Susie M. Frechin, 98

Susie M. Frechin, 98, of Blair, died Sunday, March 9, 2003, at Good Shepherd Lutheran Home in Blair.

Funeral services will be 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 12, in the chapel at Good Shepherd Lutheran Home. Interment will be in Hillcrest Cemetery in Omaha. Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. Tuesday.

The word “caregiver” describes Susie Frechin. From her childhood on, she spent much of her life caring for others.

Susie M. Frechin was born Feb. 28, 1905, in Omaha to Herbert and Susan (Monroe) Nichols. She was one of 11 children. She attended Lake School, and then left school to help with newborn twin brothers and to care for her aging grandparents.

She married Roy Ryder and the couple had one son, Raymond. When her husband died, she worked at many jobs: testing cream at the creamery, book binding, waitressing, and then, for nearly 20 years, she worked as a cashier and a trainer for Safeway Food Stores.

In 1950, she married Gene Frechin and together they bought and remodeled a classic old home in Omaha. Mrs. Frechin enjoyed the plastering, sanding, painting and wallpapering. While undertaking the remodeling, she also cared for her mother, who had come to live with them.

In 1971, Mrs. Frechin and her brother, who had health problems, moved to Blair. She cared for and did much to help him. Not long after her brother died, her two sisters, Elizabeth and Tennie, came to live with her in Blair. Both were in failing health but again, she opened her heart and home to care for them.

While at Good Shepherd Home, Mrs. Frechin continued her lifetime of caring for others, as she pushed many of the residents, who are in wheelchairs, back to the rooms after meals.

Mrs. Frechin had many hobbies and interests. She had a jigsaw and made many craft items. She refinished furniture, did ceramics, sewing, string art and many other crafts. When she was young, she enjoyed dancing and knew all of the dances, from the polka and Charleston to the Irish jig. She enjoyed going out with her son and daughter-in-law. One of her favorite outings was to go out for a thick steak and then try her luck on the slot machines.

She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Raymond and Ellen Ryder of Blair; nieces, nephews, and sister-in-law, Madeline Nichols of Omaha.

She was preceded in death by her husbands; her sisters, Mildred, Dorothy, Helen, Lillian, and Elizabeth and brothers, Burt, John, Charles, Harry and Henry.

Campbell-Aman Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

#2 Printed in the March 10, 2003 World-Herald, Omaha, NE

Frechin – Susie age 98, Blair, NE. Survived by son and daughter-in-law, Raymond and Ellen Ryder, Blair; nieces and nephews; sister-in-law, Madeline Nichols, Omaha.

Services Wed 1:30 pm at the Good Shepherd Chapel in Blair. Burial, Hillcrest Cemetery, Omaha. Visitation from 10am to 8pm Tues.

Campbell-Aman Funeral Home, Blair, NE 402-426-2191

~~~Obituaries courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library~~~