Frank J. Fehringer - Obituary

Surrounded by his family, Frank Joseph Fehringer, 90, of Sterling, Colo., formerly of Peetz, Colo. passed away June 15, 2019, at Centre Avenue Health and Rehab in Fort Collins. Visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 20 at Chaney-Reager Funeral Home in Sterling. Family will receive friends from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Vigil service and Recitation of the Holy Rosary will be at 6:00 followed by a time of fellowship. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 a.m., Friday, June 21 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Peetz, followed by burial at Sacred Heart Cemetery, and lunch at the Peetz Community Center.

Frank was born May 25, 1929 at home on the family farm at Peetz. He was the fifth of ten children born to Bernard A. and Anna K. (Elenz) Fehringer. Frank received his education from Peetz School, graduating from high school in 1947 in a class of eight. After graduation, having been disqualified from military service due to a childhood bout with rheumatic fever, Frank helped on his father's farm and was a service engineer for John Deere Plow Company out of Sidney, Neb. In the winter time, when farming was slow, he would work the sugar campaign at the Great Western Sugar Company in Sterling and lay cement block for friends and neighbors in the Peetz community.

One Sunday afternoon in the fall 1950, Frank met the love of his life, Corlie Faye Roelle, at the Peetz post office where she was dispatching the daily mail for the midnight train, and asked her on their first date. On Sept. 18, 1951, Frank and Faye were married at Sacred Heart Church in Peetz. Frank's farming career began in 1953 at their Peetz farm, located only two and a half miles from his birth place. He was a dryland farmer and raised beef cattle for 62 years before he and Faye moved to Sterling in 2015.

Frank loved baseball. He played baseball with the Peetz Town Team during the late '40s and '50s, eventually making the team's catcher. He was an avid Rockies fan. Frank and Faye found time for bowling in leagues in Sidney and with the Elk's Men's League in Sterling. Since the 1960s, they were members of local card clubs.

Along with his family, Frank's hometown community of Peetz and its Sacred Heart Church were tops on his priorities. Frank served two six-year terms on the Peetz Consumers Oil Board. He served on the board of the Peetz Fire Protection District and was a volunteer fireman. He served on the Crossroads Co-op Board. He has been a Peetz Lions Club member since 1962 and was a member of the Sterling Elks Lodge. At the Sacred Heart Church, he served as both lector and Eucharistic minister.

Frank is survived by Faye, his wife of 67 years; daughter Evelyn (Mike) Gardiner of Peetz; son Douglas (Tammy) Fehringer of Peetz; daughter Marilyn (Robert) Crane of Sterling; son Lloyd (Carol) Fehringer of Littleton; daughter Susan (Matt) Brandt of Fort Collins; 18 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren; and sisters Theresa Koester and Amelia Benisch.

He was preceded in death by his mother and father; brothers Henry and Albert; sisters Irene, Bernardine, Christina, Darlene, and Helen; and brother-in-law Francis Roelle and his wife Coletta.

Frank will be most remembered for his endearing devotion to his family; his dedication to Sacred Heart Church and the Peetz community; and being a good and faithful servant and a perfect example of Paul Harvey's So God Made a Farmer.

Memorial contributions can be made to the Peetz Lions Club or Sacred Heart Church in care of Chaney-Reager Funeral Home, PO Box 1046, Sterling, CO 80751.