Valerie Fry, 82

Valerie Fry, 82, of Garden Valley, Idaho, passed away March 24, 2024.

Valerie Claudette Evans (Gatherers) (Fry) was born on April 8, 1941, at Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan, to Claude and Ilo Evans. At that time Hudson Bay Junction was not much more than a trading post, but it did have a doctor and two nurses. She was the youngest of eight children. She lived with her family in Weekes, Saskatchewan, in a log cabin until they moved to Saskatoon in the year of 1944 where she grew up on a farm until Val was seven. 

One of her report cards had a note written in it by a teacher: Does not play well with others. A phrase that followed her through her life, she was not one to hold back from speaking her mind. While in the city she palled with a group of girls and was the ringleader.

In 1947, they moved to Raymond where Valerie was baptized by her father, Claude. On to Creston, B.C., in 1949 where she baby-sat, grew older and met Walt Gatherers. She quit school at grade 10 to marry him and they were wed at the Erickson Chapel. They lived in Eastport, Idaho, for 30 years where Walt worked for the railroad while Val raised three sons (Larry, Evan and Terry) and ran a motel and RV park. The RV park was full every summer with retirees (many of them became lifelong friends) that came back year after year, as Val was such a great host. Every weekend had a potluck finished off by homemade ice cream and then music performed by whomever could play a musical instrument.

Val and her sister Joan had a close bond in those early years and so her sons and Joaney’s daughters were raised together as one big family. Every Christmas in the '60s and '70s was celebrated at sister Arlene’s house with most of the immediate family which made for a very full house! Her husband Walt passed away in 1986 after 30 years marriage.

On May 6, 1989, Val married Randall (Randy) Fry and moved to Garden Valley, Idaho, and lived 34 years married to him. Their home in Garden Valley was a house Randy built himself. There, she continued to impress many people with her cooking talents. From doughnuts and candies to cabbage rolls and rum-infused fruit cake, Val had a flair for cooking. From Eastport to Garden Valley, Val was well-known for her baking skills as she enjoyed baking and hand delivering the treats to friends, neighbors and family. Val had a severe stroke in 2018, along with breast cancer found in 2021. She opted not to undergo radiation or chemotherapy. She battled kidney failure and suffered from dementia at the end of her life.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Claude and Ilo; her brother, Douglas; sisters Lois, Joan, Arliene and Glen; and sons Larry and Evan. She is survived by her husband, Randy Fry; two sisters, Fay Moore and Patricia Shaw Johnson; and by her son, Terry; daughter-in-law Carolyn; granddaughters Amanda, Nicole, April and Christine; grandson Jamey; and great-grandsons Tyler, Brodie and Grant.

Arrangements were in the care of the Potter Funeral Chapel.