Monday, February 15, 2016

Before I get to today's gravestone picture, I thought I would reveal how I choose what gravestone gets posted. It's all a pretty simple process but I do have rules and stipulations that I follow.


  1. Any gravestone can be chosen but it's typically a gravestone that stands out to me. While older stones garner the most attention, fancier ones do as well. Flat stones, while mostly unremarkable, can and have been chosen although it's rare.
  2. Stones with dates newer than 40 years are not posted because I want a decent amount of time between the death and today but also because of any living relatives who may still be around. For example, stones posted in 2016 have to be dated before 1976. Newer stones could still be posted on my Twitter or Instagram and I always post pictures on Find A Grave if one isn't already on there.
  3. I do attempt basic research on the person before posting. Most of the time, they are your average person but occasionally I find some gems in someone's biography.

West Lawn Memorial Gardens is located at the intersection of I-70 and Auburn Road. Being a memorial park, all the stones lay flush with the ground. West Lawn is adorned with a statue of Jesus, prayer hands and a Veteran Memorial.


Regina Margaretha Fry was born Regina Lagenwalter in Troy, Illinois to Johannes and Maria Langenwalter. She married a man named "Goebel" in about 1910. She had four children with "Goebel", August, Harold, Karl, and William. Regina then married Ben Schilling in 1917 with whom they had a daughter, Florence. Regina married one last time to Birt Fry in 1935.

In the 1930s, Regina and her sons Karl and Harry were reunited after 23 years. Karl and Harry were taken from Regina because she was behind in her payments to an orphanage. Karl and Harry were taken but Regina took August, William and Florence from the court's jurisdiction across the Mississippi River into Missouri.

REGINA M. FRY
MOTHER
1889 - 1962

William E. Goebel
(Uncle Bill)

April 10, 1917 - May 30, 1997




West Lawn Memorial Gardens, Mission Township, Shawnee County, Kansas