Donald Edward Fry

Don was raised in Horseshoe Bend, ID. and came to Idaho on a NROTC scholarship as a Midshipman. He joined Gamma Iota in the fall of 1962. He excelled as Electrical Engineering major and was named an Outstanding Senior and an Outstanding Navy Cadet in 1967. Don also met the love of his life while on campus, Mary from Delta Gamma sorority. It seemed instantaneous and forever. I remember that he studied a lot, totally in love with Mary, was invested in the stock market and a cinch to make the Navy’s nuclear power program.

He graduated and went to Naval Reactor for the dreaded interview with the abrupt Admiral Rickover and his discerning staff. The Admiral was so impressed with Don that he made him a direct report as a new Ensign. Don told me that, as part of his nuclear power training, they immediately sent him to an incredibly difficult math school where he was below average upon entry compared to his new Ivy League and MIT peers. He caught up quickly and was soon responsible for the vital valves on our submarine and aircraft carrier power plants. Rickover respected only competence and there is no way that Don didn’t earn this position.

When his Navy obligation ended, in order to stay at Naval Reactor, he became a civilian at a senior GS level. He could only handle working directly for Rickover for a little over a decade when he took another senior role there. At one point he described himself as the “Weight Nazi” on the new USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier program, meaning that anyone adding anything to the design of the ship had to get the added weight and balance impacts past Don. He said that every pound has an impact on speed and must be justified. He was as tough as Rickover, just with better manners. He always revealed what he could to me, a small fraction of what he was dealing with.

Don and I worked on a special memorial for three Gamma Iota brothers we lost in Vietnam to be presented at the 70th Anniversary Celebration in 2022. I was unable to attend and Don presented it to the chapter which now hangs in the dining room as part of our veterans wall. He was unable to attend the 75th after acancer diagnosis. I remember him telling me when he got sick, that he was well prepared with his data each time he met with the oncologist. With his analytic ability, I can only imagine how prepared. I’m an old Geek; this man was a scientist and brilliant engineer.

Don and Mary have three sons, John, Patrick and Michael, all successful, one of them at Naval Reactor. Notre Dame played a big role. They have nine grandchildren. Mary continues in her third decade volunteering at the White House.

It’s hard to imagine anyone with the ability to design, build, operate and refuel nuclear submarines, and still remain personable and warm. Don was such a guy. In retirement, he and Mary focused on family. They still lived in the only house they ever owned in Arlington but spent their winters in Florida. He was generous in time and donations to Gamma Iota. We talked a few times a year, sharing Navy and family stories and just catching up. As technical as he was, Don was able to patiently talk to a total lay person, me. He usually finished our conversations with a little joke, clean but always funny. I miss him as much as possible for someone in a different technical world on the opposite coast. He’s a huge loss to us all.

Don entered the Bond Eternal on May 26. 2026. He will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery at some point in the future.

YITBOS

Patrick Noonan PC 61