Jack Frye

Aviation pioneer Jack Frye, who with Paul E. Richter and Walter A. Hamilton, built TWA into a world class airline during his tenure as chairman from 1934-1947.

He was born on March 18, 1904 in Sweetwater, Oklahoma to William and Nellie Frye. After his mother’s death he lived with his grandparents Henry and Lula Frye at the Frye Ranch. He attended Rock School, Wheeler High School and Carver Chiropratic College in Oklahoma City.

Frye enlisted in the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers in 1921, was discharged as a corporal in 1922. He joined the USNR in 1934, commissioned as lieutenant, in 1940, promoted to lieutenant commander, resigned in 1952. He received the first commercial pilot certificate issued in the State of Arizona - #1 - and held Transport Pilot certificate #933. Frye, Walter Hamilton and Paul E. Richter, Arizona pilot certificate #2, founded Aero Corporation in 1926 Los Angeles, with a subsidiary Standard Air Lines in 1927. Jack Frye, as pilot, flew the first commercial plane into Tucson, Arizona (November 28, 1929).

Standard Air Lines was sold to Western Air Express in early 1930. Western Air Express merged with Transcontinental Air Transport in 1930 to form T&WA (TWA). Frye became president of T&WA in 1934 and Richter became Vice President. TWA was known as "The Airline Run by Flyers".

The airline suffered near disaster after its reputation was hurt in 1931 when Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne died on a T&WA Fokker tri-motor plane. In 1932 Jack Frye, representing TWA, sought a better aircraft and Douglas developed the Douglas Transport.

Jack Frye, and Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, with a T&WA team of Tomlinson, Fritz and Richter set a cross country record of 13 hours and 4 minutes in 1934 flying the Douglas DC-1. The DC-1 ultimately resulted in the development of the DC-3.

In 1939, desiring greater control of their airline Frye and Richter approached Howard Hughes to buy into the company. (Jack Frye stated in an April 6, 1954 issue of Life magazine that it was Hughes who approached him (Frye) in regard to investments.) Hughes' interest was airplanes, and his involvement was the development and financing of the Lockheed Constellation (the "Connies"). Frye and Hughes flew the Constellation on a record six hour 58 minute cross country flight on April 17, 1944.

After resigning as president of T.W.A., on February 21, 1947, Frye landed on his feet. On April 14, 1947, he was elected Chairman of the Board of General Aniline and Film Corp, American IG, General Dyetuff Corporation Ansco. On (July 1, 1947), he flew out to New York from his Sedona Ranch and filled the position. He retained the position of CEO and president until 1955. In 1954-1955 he formed his own company, the Frye Corporation, (to develop a new improved version of the Douglas Commercial airplane). Frye served the Fort Worth based company as C.E.O. until his death in 1959.

In 1941, he married the former Helen Varner Vanderbilt Frye who was previously married to Cornelius Vanderbilt IV. Frye died February 3, 1959 in a car accident in Tucson, Arizona, exactly 33 years to the day after his founding of Standard Air Lines. He was originally buried in Tucson, but now is at rest in Wheeler, Texas.

Source: Wikipedia

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=36603252

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=bobmtree&...

is source he is incorrectly listed as the second husband of Helen Virginia VARNER*

Marriage 1 Helen Virginia VARNER b: 24 Nov 1908 in Clarksburg, West Virginia (Divorced)

Married: 1 Jan 1941

• In her life [Helen Virginia VARNER] traveled the world and married 2 very prominent men, one, Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. (Neil), and two, Jack Frye, co-founder and longtime president of Transcontinental and Western Air (TWA).At the end of Helen's life she managed the Frye Ranch at Sedona Arizona and spent her time exploring the depths of metaphysics which liberated her soul and freed her from what we would call orthodox and traditional religion.Helen Frye was a remarkable spirit, cherished by all who knew her and well-remembered locally as a legend.The remaining undeveloped 286 acres of the former Frye Ranch is now preserved as Red Rock State Park at Sedona, Arizona.Helen Frye's life story can be found online.

Burial:Cremated, Ashes scattered.Specifically: Helen Frye's ashes were scattered from her Wings of the Wind home over the cliff which dropped to the Frye Smoke Trail Ranch and Oak Creek

Bio of William John "Jack" Frye (Published in Amarillo Daily News, February 5, 1959)

"TUCSON, Ariz., Feb. 4 - Jack Frye, 54, an aviation pioneer who lent a big hand to formation of one of the world's largest air transport firms, died in a Tucson hospital Tuesday night of injuries suffered an hour earlier in an automobile accident.

A former resident of Wheeler, in the Texas Panhandle where his father and step-mother now live, Frye was fatally injured when his car smashed into the side of an automobile that pulled into the road in front of him.

Sheriff's deputies said the impact hurled his body 40 feet. The other driver, Rosabell M. Wright, 42, of Tucson, suffered minor injuries.

Funeral services for Frye, a former president of Trans World Airlines, will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday in Adair Funeral Home Chapel in Tucson. Burial will be in Grantwood Memorial Park in Tucson under direction of the funeral home.

Frye died at 7 p.m. Tuesday in St. Mary's Hospital in Tucson. He was born March 18, 1904, in Sweetwater, Okla., and spent much of his early life in Wheeler, Tex., where his grandfather, Henry Frye established a ranch in the 1880's.

Frye and his brother, Don, left the ranch in 1922. The pair went to California to learn to fly. Frye was president of Standard Airlines of Los Angeles in 1927, when the firm pioneered airline service to the East.

He also served as a pilot for the company and flew the first commercial airliners into Phoenix and Tucson. In 1930 Standard merged into Western Air Express Corp. and later the same year into Transcontinental and Western Airlines, now Trans World Airlines.

He went with TWA as vice president and became president of the airline at the age of 27 when the company boasted a payroll of 600. When he left 13 years later the airline was a 70-million dollar operation with more than 17,000 employees.

Frye sold out to Howard Hughes and joined the management Chemical Dieworks, which he operated for the United States government. Later he became president of General Analine and Film Corp. of New York, makers of Ansco photographic equipment. Later he became chairman of the board for the firm.

In recent years he became associated with C.R. Smith in Helio-Courier Aircraft Company and came to Tucson eight months ago to negotiate transfer of the company plant to Tucson from Pittsburg, Kan.

The firm specializes in aircraft requiring smaller-than-usual landing space.

He attended schools at Texola and at the "old rock schoolhouse" near the family ranch in Wheeler County. He also attended school at Wheeler and Clarendon. His mother died when he was a youngster and he lived for some time with his grandparents on the ranch, about 11 miles northeast of Wheeler. His grandfather settled at the head of the Washita River in 1877 and moved to the present ranch site in 1882. The ranch is one of Wheeler County's oldest.

His father and stepmother, Dr. and Mrs. William H. Frye live on the ranch at present. Dr. Frye is a retired chiropractor.

Frye at the time of his death, was making his home at the Lodge on the Desert, a Tucson winter resort. His wife, Nevada Emely and a daughter, Lili NevaJac Frye, are both living at the lodge. His wife and daughter were visiting a brother of Mrs. Frye in Las Vegas, Nev., at the time of the accident.

Frye's brother, Don, died several years ago.

Also surviving is a sister, Mrs. Ople Thomas of Hermosa Beach, Calif.

Frye began taking flying lessons when he was 19. At the time he was working at a soda fountain in Los Angeles, Calif.

In February of 1947 he piloted a four-engine Constellation TWA airliner in a trans-continental non-stop record flight of 7 hours, 27 minutes and 43 seconds. The record was not his first. In 1934 he spanned the country with a plane load of mail in 13 hours, 2 minutes, and shortly after whittled the time to 11 hours and 31 minutes.

Recently he disclosed to friends plans of his firm, the Frye Corporation of Fort Worth, to design an airplane for economy flight in the world's underdeveloped areas.

At the time, his corporation was seeking 15-million dollars to produce the F1 Safari, a four-engine plane designed to carry 12 1/2 tons or 80 passengers. Many operating methods and techniques introduced by Frye at TWA are now standard procedure on principal airlines.

In addition to duties with the Frye Corporation and Helio-Courier, he also was a member of the board of directors of the Maryland Casualty Company."

• *See further at: Sedonalegend Link courtesy of Randall Reynolds, Creator of site
  • See additional at: JACK FRYE - Aviation Pioneer Additional link courtesy of Eric Johnson, Creator of blog