Howard V Fries

Ahh, where to begin? He was 1 of 8 growing up in north Minneapolis. Known as Fritz(he was mostly German)to his classmates. To his family and friends he was Howie. That was less formal than Howard and he liked it that way. It’s not that he couldn’t be serious when he had to be, but he loved to make people laugh and he was good at it. even if you heard the joke 100 times before. It was the theatrics he put into it to put a smile on your face. The same energy he put into making you laugh, he also put into entering contests. Often referred to as “That lucky Howie!” He had entering contests down to a science. He knew exactly how many entry blanks he could fit into an envelope without costing extra postage. He would space out the deliveries of each envelope of entry blanks so they would be thoroughly mixed in the contest barrel. And he saturated every contest. And us 5 kids were the main “fillerouters”. Filling out entry blanks before homework was the rule of the day. Unless you weren’t getting A’s or B’s. Needless to say he won many, many times. Even for the same contests he won multiple times. A short sampling: canoe with all the fixings, a speed boat with trailer, a 13′ Winnebago, 10 10speed bikes in one contest. TV’s. He won so many times that they changed the rules. “One entry per envelope. One winner per household”. That lucky Howie! He was also a very gifted handy man and a good artist and woodworker. He made many a toys and furniture for us kids and grandkids. We are very thankful for all the trips to the BWCA too. And the beer can hunting we did in the Boundary waters at abandoned resorts that used to be there in the 1940’s. Digging through the old dumps, finding old beer cans to clean up and sell. Not to mention the wonderful fishing and fond memories. We were the lucky ones. To call “Howie” our dad and what a wonderful caregiver he was to our mom in her later years. And to give the gift of sight. To that lucky person to see through “Howie’s” eyes and being able to see a smile you put on someone else’s face. Laughter, it truly is the best medicine!

If you can’t give it your all, it’s not worth doing!