Anna Mae Fry

Anna Mae (Jones) Fry, age 100, died peacefully at home Saturday, September 13, 2025, in Traverse City, MI where she was surrounded by her family. Anna was born in Ventura, Iowa February 10, 1925, to parents Hugh Ivan Jones and Elizabeth Margaret (Conroy) Jones. Anna moved to Detroit in 1943 and worked for the war effort in a GM factory. She married John Henry Fry in Detroit in 1945. Anna is survived by two brothers: Chuck and Gary Jones, her children: Peggy, John, and Tom Fry, 4 grandchildren: Michael Thomas, Molly Thomas, Andrew Fry, and Alicia (Fry) Bennett, and 5 great grandchildren: Owen, Hailey, Charles, James, and Isobel. Anna is predeceased by her husband John-1960, son Kenneth-1974, daughter Patricia-2023, siblings Mary, Melvin, Lawrence, Edwin, and Louise. According to her wishes, Anna was cremated. Her ashes will be buried alongside her husband John and her daughter Pat. A celebration of her life will be sometime in the future both in Traverse City and Detroit. Many thanks to Munson Medical Center, Munson Hospice Care and Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home for their care and compassion. As a young child Anna’s family moved from Ventura to Garner Iowa where she graduated from high school. She played the clarinet and as a result she said, “I got to attend all the football games!” Anna loved to dance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake Iowa. When living in Detroit, she danced at all the great ballrooms there in the 40’s and 50’s. Acer her husband died, she began taking dance lessons to learn Disco and Latin dance moves and continued to dance into her 90’s. She was known as “Disco Annie” by all who knew her. All this while raising 5 children on her own and working clerical jobs in the automotive and health care industries before retiring at the age of 79. Anna was outspoken when it came to fighting the good fight against injustices and attended many demonstrations for peace and equality throughout her life. Even when she could not march anymore, she rode her electric scooter with protest signs attached! She loved to be with her children, playing euchre and poker, traveling to New York City to visit her daughter Pat, going to Paris, spending summers in Traverse City with her daughter Peggy, and visiting Florida to see family, and friends, and a breathtaking road trip through national parks of Arizona and Utah – a trip of lifetime. Watching the Detroit Tigers and Lions with family and friends were always fun filled events! Anna said the secret to a long life was staying active (besides dancing she exercised at the gym for many years) and let’s not forget a glass of red wine to wind down the night. Anna Mae had a long, eventful, and joyous life. She will be dearly missed!

Anna Mae Fry

February 10, 1925 - September 13, 2025