Myrna Florence Fridley, daughter of Earl and Pearl Blanchfield, was born on December 31, 1929 in the small town of Lytton, Iowa. She passed away peacefully with her children by her side on April 19, 2024. She was 94 years old.
Myrna truly was a wonderful woman whom everyone loved. She was a devoted wife and mother, kind, loving, nurturing, and hardworking. She was a salt of the earth type of person. She made those around her feel valued and always saw the good in people. She had a bit of spunk in her and the gift of a great sense of humor and a way of saying something that could always make you laugh.
Myrna grew up near Lake City, Iowa and graduated from Lake City High School. She was a country girl at heart, faithfully helping her father out on the family farm doing hard, physical labor. She loved working in her garden. She was a talented artist and singer in her younger days, singing solos at the First Christian Church in Des Moines, Iowa. She would marry Robert Fridley, the owner of the Iowa Theatre in Lake City where they met. He swept her off her feet, and after joining him in Hollywood at his invitation, he proposed on Mulholland Drive overlooking the Hollywood Hills and she said yes. They were married a week later. Myrna always said she would be happy with one theatre and a husband who was home every night, but it didn’t turn out that way. Robert would go on to own 87 theatres throughout Iowa and had a very successful career. Unfortunately, that meant he was working at the theatres every day and most nights. She stood by his side and was a devoted, supportive wife, proud of him and his accomplishments. They had a great partnership and marriage.
She was a mother of five, doing everything to make her husband’s life easier and all that’s involved in raising five kids and its challenges, as well as managing a household by herself, rarely hiring help if she could manage things on her own. She was very frugal, having grown up during the Great Depression as a farm girl whose grandfather had lost his farm. Her father was so afraid of losing his farm that he paid off his farm debt in three years during the Great Depression.
As a mother, Myrna was very supportive, affectionate, and encouraging, although not a pushover. She demonstrated her love in so many ways and strived to do what was best for her children. Her children loved, respected, and admired her very much and loved having a fun, outgoing kind of mother, even though they didn’t like that she worked so much and so hard. She did everything from cooking and cleaning to painting and wallpapering and decorating to yardwork and gardening. She could also fix a furnace boiler, keep the cars running, and pretty much fix most anything or know where to get it done cheaply. Like her husband, when she wasn’t working she was spending time with her children.
Myrna was also a wonderful daughter, sister, aunt, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, and mother-in-law. There were plenty of fun times shared together and many good memories made. She always found time for family. She loved all her nieces and nephews dearly, and their children, as well. She loved receiving their Christmas cards each year. In later years, she and her sister Myrla traveled abroad together. They also took their mother on several trips within the United States, as well as to Europe where their mother celebrated her 80th birthday at the Moulin Rouge in Paris.
Myrna was the kind of person who would do anything to help you out and do whatever was needed, no matter how difficult. She helped take care of several of her elderly relatives and friends later in life. She was also a loving and very involved grandmother who frequently took care of her many grandchildren, going to their many sports games and activities, playing games, watching movies together, having sleepovers, and taking them on family trips to California with her husband. She loved them very much and helped create many special memories for them. She also made the holidays very special for her family. She will be missed most at Christmastime.
Myrna was preceded in death by her husband Robert Fridley, son Brian Fridley, father and mother Earl and Pearl Blanchfield, brother Warren Blanchfield, and sister Myrla Mapel. She is survived by her sister Sondra Seward, son Grant Thomas, daughters Lisa Dotson and Erin Abbott (and husband Don), son Jon Fridley, 12 grandchildren, 16 great grandchildren, 2 great great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
A celebration of Myrna’s life will take place on Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. at the McLaren’s Chapel in West Des Moines, Iowa. A Visitation will also take place at 10:00 a.m. The celebration will also include Robert’s life, as the COVID Pandemic prevented a celebration of his life from taking place. Burial will directly follow at Resthaven Cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Variety Club of Iowa or Saint Jude's Children's Research Hospital.
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