Hazel Joan Fries

Hazel Joan Fries, 94, passed away on July 10, 2026, at Mercy Hospital in Springfield. She was born on Feb. 25, 1932, in Ash Grove, to George Callaway and Susan Ola Golden Choate Alexander, joining a family that grew to include 11 children raised in a cozy two room cottage on Bunker Hill.

After marrying at age 20, she left Ash Grove to travel the world as an Air Force wife. For more than two decades, she lived in England, Germany and many of the United States, raising her three children nearly single-handedly in foreign territory.

She later married Robert Fries and enjoyed working as a highly respected hospital ward secretary in Tulsa, Okla. and Springfield. She finished her long career as manager for many years of the Ash Grove Senior Citizens Housing complex in Ash Grove,  waiting until the young age of 82 to retire. 

She was predeceased by her beloved husband, Robert, in 1989, along with her parents, nine of her siblings - William, Alda, Wynona, Dorsey, Glen, Georgia, Eva, Mary and June - and her son-in-law, Philip Anderson. 

She is survived by her loving children: Wayne Allen Richardson of Moreno Valley, Calif, Debra Leigh Anderson of Fairfax, Va, and Paul Randall (Sherri) Richardson of O’Fallon; six grandchildren; several great-grandchildren; brother John Alexander. 

The family will host visitation from 1-2 p.m. on Wednesday, July 15, at Wilson – Griffin Funeral Home in Ash Grove, with the funeral service to begin at 2 p.m. interment will follow at Ash Grove Cemetery.