At 84 years, Anita Louise Fryer calmly and peacefully passed
away in Missoula, Montana on September 22nd, 2020 under
the caring and watchful eyes of her son, hospice nurse and
care-giving staff.
Anita was born in Elmhurst, Illinois in 1936 to parents Francis
and Margaret (Mogk) Skarbeck and had an older sibling, her
dear sister Eleanor. They grew up in the Elmhurst area and
attended York High School and the Lutheran Church.
Anita attended business school which led to an initial decade of
data entry vocation at the headquarters of Jewel Tea grocery
stores. Beyond that she served a stint with Pfizer
pharmaceuticals then moved into her long lasting career in the
claims departments of insurance giants such as Safeco and
Foremost, then edged into retirement from Allstate. When there
was a natural disaster anywhere in the United States, Anita
often worked the phones late into the night helping people who
had suffered great losses put their homes and lives back
together.
Along the way Anita got married and birthed her only child John.
She soon found herself abandoned with the baby, but raised
him admirably despite many years as a single parent in an era
when that was uncommon. Her greatest friend Dorothy Powell
took Anita and the child in, which set the foundation for her
lifelong friendship with Dorothy.
After moving to Florida for the Allstate position and to be near
family, she met and married her late husband Paul Thomas
Fryer who was a Vietnam combat veteran and commercial
fisherman. Anita (along with her mom Margaret) expressed
much determination to tote her new husband and son to church
services as an expression of their lifelong Lutheran affiliation.
Together Anita and Paul pursued a passion for fishing. She

cautiously enjoyed freshwater fishing from boats, but most often
could be found along the shorelines of lakes and the Gulf of
Mexico due to her fear of deep water because she had never
learned to swim. However, expressing her strong sense of
adventure she overcame that fear enough that she has
whitewater rafted on the Colorado and Blackfoot rivers...
wearing a life-vest of course.
Anita also had a lifelong zest for camping in the family's cabin
tent and later an RV. While camping Anita could more joyfully
express one of her life's passions which was cooking for the
purpose of stuffing her husband, son and neighboring campers
with americana recipes into as full a state of belly capacity as
they could be cajoled, which passed with more ease amongst
the great outdoors. As can be imagined, the ever-present family
dogs joyfully benefited from Anita's food fervor.
Her other passion was that of being a Cubs fan... an
inexplicable devotion beyond mere baseball due to her sticking
with the Cubbies through all their disappointing decades. Anita
attended many Cubs home games at Wrigley Field in Chicago
and then from out of state followed the team on television.
Anita spent much of her later years caring for her parents and

sister who all at different timeframes had ailed before passing-
on. Shortly after her husband Paul suddenly passed away she

departed Florida for the mountains of western North Carolina to
settle in a small mobile home in a retirement village situated
near her son's home. She was very happy to be back in a
region with four seasons and in a tighter more active community
where she volunteered to bring food to church socials,
community events and holiday celebrations.
She also very enthusiastically volunteered for many years to
supervise (and feed) children in her church's daycare. She also
volunteered to drive elder senior community members to their

appointments and the grocery store. In her mobile home
community Anita spent many evenings playing cards with
neighbors and developed tight friendships with many of them...
Uno ! was her favorite card game.
After two stints in assisted living in North Carolina and Olympia,
Anita came to settle her final years at Edgewood Vista Assisted
Living closer to her son in Missoula. It was initially difficult for
Anita to transition from being a nurturing care-giver all of her life
to having the care provided to her. But under the encompassing
care and attention from Edgewood staff and her son, she was
able to continue enjoying her life of retirement with rest,
relaxation, good food, live music, holiday season cheer and
visiting doggy-pals.

"A private memorial will be held at a later date. Please withhold flower arrangements."