My Grandma
Marjorie (Tulpo) Helen Ilona Frye celebrated her 100th birthday on Sept. 13, 2015 with a gathering of family and friends in Fallbrook, California hosted by her five children. Marjorie had certainly seen a lot in her century of life; when she was born in 1915 in Centennial Heights, Michigan, her family's farm had no running water, no electricity, and certainly none of the luxuries we take for granted nowadays.

Although life on the farm was hard, as Marjorie told it, there was always laughter and love. Born the 11th of 13 siblings to John and Elisabeth (Bäf) Tulppo, Marjorie recalls getting "beautiful hand-me-down dresses, shoes, and hats" from older sisters who had already gone off to see the world, and she couldn't wait to receive letters from faraway cities from her three older brothers and six older sisters. As a youngster, Marjorie collected photographs of movie stars and made scrapbooks, read a lot of books, learned to cook, bake Finnish pullas and pasties, and loved to sew and garden.

John (Isä) and Elisabeth (Äiti) were just teenagers when they met and fell in love while both were immigrant passengers on the ship to Ellis Island in the late 1890s. Although "Lissi" was headed to another part of the United States, John, who had work lined up in the copper mines of the Upper Peninsula, convinced her to accompanying him. They got married shortly after arriving in the Upper Peninsula and soon had a growing family.

When Marjorie was five years old, the family moved to another farm in Tapiola. Marjorie and her siblings learned to speak Finnish before English, and even attended Finnish Bible school before receiving confirmation in the Lutheran church. Marjorie attended Doelle School through ninth grade, and when the school burned down, she and her sisters attended and graduated from Houghton High School, living in a boarding house and only coming home on the weekends because the daily commute was so difficult, especially in winter.  Marjorie told amusing stories of those years in Houghton, with tales of many dances and friendships she made, some of which have lasted a lifetime.

At age 18, Marjorie got her first job as a nanny in Orange, California, living for a time with her eldest sister Judy Woodward and her young family. Although she returned to Tapiola to take care of her mother, Marjorie never lost her love for the west coast, making her winter home there before settling permanently in the San Diego / Riverside area in the 1990s.

Marjorie made her way to Detroit from Tapiola when she was in her early 20s, sharing a home with her sister Irene Smith and landing a job at Burroughs Corporation. At that time, Marjorie says the company was filled with young adults her age, and she had an enjoyable career and great friends. One such friend was Louise Frye, who had a brother named Dewey who also worked at Burroughs. Louise thought they would make a great couple, and even though Marjorie was engaged to someone else at the time, the moment she met Dewey, it was love at first sight. After Marjorie broke off her engagement to "a very nice boy called Curly," she dated Dewey until they married in 1938.  Working for a short time for Hudson Department store, Marjorie and Dewey soon bought a house in Detroit. They raised five children in that house on Winthrop Avenue: Elizabeth ("Sunny" Courter), Dennis, Rosemary, Robert and Patricia (Andrews).

Marjorie and Dewey bought some land and built a small cottage on a nearly private lake in Gaylord, Michigan just before retirement age and the family spent many happy summers there, even some still visiting to this day. At the cottage, Marjorie enjoyed planting flowers every spring and picking wild strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and teaberries with which to make delicious jams and jellies. They both reveled in the bounty from Dewey's vegetable garden, and enjoyed life on the lake with the sound of whippoorwills and rustling birch trees lulling them to sleep each night. In 1975, Dewey retired and immediately packed up the Detroit house, sold it, and he and Marjorie lived in Gaylord every summer thereafter until they were in their late 80s. The cottage was truly a utopian place for Marjorie and Dewey, and gave them great joy to welcome their growing brood of grandchildren each summer.

Marjorie and Dewey moved permanently to the Temecula, CA area in the early 2000s and lived with their daughters Sunny and Rosemary, who helped care for Dewey until his passing in 2008. Marjorie enjoyed spending time with family who regularly visit from near and far to her apartment in Murrieta, CA that she shared with daughter Sunny, one of four of Marjorie's children who live nearby in Southern California. Marjorie was always ready to welcome guests with witticisms, quotes and silly songs, and with a ready cup of good coffee and a pulla to share. She was a great lady who will be missed by the many who loved her so.

I will miss my wonderful Aunt Marge. She was a lady like no other, always remembered birthdays, was warm and kind and interesting to talk to. A great lady and I loved her very much.

Your niece and namesake,
Marjorie Lynn

Miller Jones Mortuary Hemet

Marjorie Frye

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Marjorie Helen Frye

September 13, 1915 – August 13, 2016

Miller Jones Mortuary and Crematory

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