Meda Frey

MEDA ORIVILLE FREY

     Meda Oriville Frey, age 91, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, died on Saturday, August 16, 2025.  She was born in her grandmother’s home on December 14, 1933 in Island Falls, Maine, to parents Margurite Olive McNally and Carl Montelle  Pettengill. As a small child she moved with her family to a remote area of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, spending her school terms farmed out on a ranch in Greeley Hill in order to attend a one room school house through eighth grade. Summers were spent in mining camps with her mother and step father, William Beatty, Sr. After high school she moved to Reno, Nevada and enrolled in a business college. She eventually went to work for the Sierra Pacific Power Company. Meda met and married Leslie Ross Frey in 1954. Together they traveled to Florida, New Jersey, Alaska, and Massachusetts, finally settling in Colorado Springs in 1964.

     She was an accomplished artist. In the mid-1980’s she was involved with the Colorado Springs Art Guild and part owner and director of the El Dorado Fine Arts Gallery in Old Colorado City.   She instilled a love for music in all three of her children and also sang in her church choirs over the years.  She had a special touch when gardening which showed in their lovely yard, rock garden and plant-filled sun-porch.    She worked as a station manager for the Radio Reading Service of the Rockies in the 1990’s. Later in life, she learned to play the trombone (with private lessons given by her son) and became a member of the New Horizon’s Band.  She enjoyed reading and sewing, and passed on her fondness for animals to her children.  She and Les enjoyed monthly gatherings with their camping club for many years.

     She was preceded in death by her husband of 68 years, Leslie Ross Frey, in August 2022, as well as her parents, and half-brother, William Beatty, Jr. She is survived by daughters, Nella (Don) Ostrander of Colorado Springs, Mary (Rodney) Goetz of Sykesville, MD, and son Douglas (Barbara) Frey of Colorado Springs, five grandsons;  Steven (Elaine) Frey, Brian (Katie)Ostrander, Ben Ostrander, Daniel (Sara) Goetz, and Gary Goetz, and four great grandchildren, Declan, Ryker and Emily Goetz and Nikkolai Frey.  She was a member of Ascension Lutheran Church. Burial will be at the Pikes Peak National Cemetery, Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she will be laid to rest by her beloved husband, Leslie.