Donna Fry

Donna (Bork) (Craver) Fry, 90, passed away on December 21, 2022 in Kalispell, MT.  Her cremated remains will be interred at Mount Moriah Cemetery, Butte, MT.  Memorial services will be held in Kalispell and in Butte, MT in late summer 2023, date TBA.

Donna was born in Amsterdam, NY to John and Ethel Bork on September 29, 1932.  As a child, she moved with her family to Butte, MT, where she graduated from Butte High School in 1950.

She was married in 1952 to Bob Craver, a minister of the United Methodist Church, and had four sons, Nathan, Daniel, Kevin and Alan.  They were married for nearly 41 years until Bob’s death in 1993.

After her family, Donna’s greatest loves were music, travel, and pets.  Singing in church both as a soloist and in church choirs was a passion of hers, starting as a soprano, then an alto, and finally as a part of the tenor section.  She also loved to play the autoharp.  She enjoyed traveling and did so extensively around the USA, later visiting Israel, Egypt and Australia.  You could always find pets in her home, from dogs and cats to lizards and mice (and even a rat!)  She began a pet therapy program where she would take a dog or a cat from the local shelter to the nursing home once a week.

Donna was very involved in the life of the churches which Pastor Bob served in California, Nevada, and Montana, especially in music and advocating for those with special needs.  While serving at Geneva Avenue UMC in San Francisco, CA, they began a school where she taught life skills to developmentally disabled adults. They later started a similar school, where Donna taught for many years, at Mountain View UMC in Butte.

After Bob’s passing, a mutual friend reintroduced Donna to Harry Fry, with whom she had graduated high school, and they were married in 1995.  They spent 12 happy years together in Kalispell until Harry’s death in 2007.

Donna is survived by her children Nathan (Yosifah Rose) of Petaluma, CA; Daniel, of Kalispell; Alan (Tamara) of Victorville, CA; stepson Ron (Susan) Fry of Milwaukee, WI; stepdaughter Valerie (Chuck) Pizzitola of Hebron, IL.  She is also lovingly missed by four grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews; brothers Dick Bork of Santee, CA, Bob Bork (Connie) of Salem, OR; sisters Judy (Darrell) Scott and Linda Knievel of Butte, MT.

Also preceding her in death were her son Kevin (1996), and her brother Bill Bork (2022).

In lieu of flowers, please consider planting a tree in her memory or donating to the Special Olympics, Alzheimer’s Association, or your local animal rescue.