Reuben Friez

Reuben Friez, 85, Mandan, died January 23, 2004, at a Mandan care center. Funeral services will be Wednesday at 1:00 PM at Bismarck Baptist Church with Rev. Don Burnett officiating. Burial will be at Sunset Memorial Gardens in Bismarck. Military honors will be provided by VFW Post #1326. There will be no public visitation. Reuben Friez, the seventh child of Anton and Louise Richter Friez, was born October 17, 1918, on a farm near Bentley, North Dakota. The family soon moved fourteen miles from Hettinger, North Dakota. There, Reuben attended first grade at the Chandler School. After first grade, his family moved to a farm west of McLaughlin, South Dakota, where his brother Leo lives today. After graduating from high school in 1938, Reuben went to work at a CCC camp at Lake Sheridan in the Black Hills. From 1939 - 1940, he traveled to Pendleton, Oregon, to help harvest, and then to California to pick grapes, work in a chicken factory, a mint plant, and an alfalfa mill. Reuben received his notice from the draft board in April of 1941 and was assigned to Company A 182nd Battalion at Ft. Lewis, Washington, trained in California, and spent his Army career in Australia and New Guinea from 1942 - 1945. In service to his country, he was twice cited for the Bronze Star. In September of 1945, he was honorably discharged from the Army. On June 9, 1946, he married Clarice Agrimson in the Redeemer Lutheran Church in McLaughlin, South Dakota. He managed a hardware store for five years, was a Standard Oil agent for two years, and worked in the post office for 28 ¢ years. Reuben and Clarice lived in McLaughlin from 1946 - 1992, and then moved to Bismarck. Reuben is survived by his wife Clarice of 57 ¢ years and their four children, Dr. Harvey Friez and his wife Leonore of Pierre, South Dakota, and their three children, Matthew and his wife Tara of Houston, Texas, Allyson and her husband Jon of Boston, Massachusetts, and Lindsey, a freshman at NDSU in Fargo; Anita and her husband Steve Auch of Chamberlain, South Dakota, and their two children, Suzanne and her husband John of Urbana, Illinois, and Stefanie, a high school sophomore; Beverly Friez of Hot Springs, South Dakota; and Carolyn and her husband Rick Bieber of Trail City, South Dakota, and their two children, Moya Bieber of New Underwood and Benjamin Bieber and his wife Tiffinee of rural Trail City; two great-grandchildren, Jeron and Grant Madsen; and two remaining brothers, George of Cambridge, Minnesota, and Leo of McLaughlin, South Dakota. He was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers, Christian, Joseph "Joe", Benjamin "Ben", and Emmanuel "Bill"; his sisters, Mary Aman, Florence "Flossy" Curry, Lydia Hunt, and Josephine "Josie" Friez; and a grandchild, Michael James Auch. His family is rejoicing, knowing that he is forever at peace in heaven with his Savior Jesus Christ. To God be the glory forever and ever. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers memorials be given to the Gideon's International.

Reuben Friez

October 17, 1918 - January 23, 2004