Wren McKinnon Frith

Wren McKinnon Frith, 83, passed away on Sunday, August 30, 2009 in Biloxi. Originally from Lyman, Mr. Frith returned to the Coast in 1972 after 18 years in Jackson, where he was Operating Division Manager with Allstate Ins. Co., owner of Frith Hardware, and manager of Colonial Country Club. Prior to living in Jackson, he had been a special agent with the FBI in the Newark, N.J. and New York City offices. At the time of his retirement in 1988, he had been General Manager of the Biloxi Holiday Inn for 12 years. He served in many capacities of civic leadership on the Coast, especially in the tourism industry. He was a past president of both the Gulf Coast Innkeepers Assoc. and the Miss. Hotel-Motel Assoc., a director of the Miss. Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo, and a former member of American Legion Post 119. Mr. Frith was a World War II veteran, flying 35 missions over Germany as a B-17 ball-turret gunner with the 388th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force, U.S. Army Air Forces, stationed in Knettishall, England. He graduated from Lyman High School, Perkinston Jr. College, and the University of Miss. He was a member of Bay Vista Baptist Church, where he was a long time choir member and soloist. He was preceded in death by his father, Wren Frith, his mother, Mrs. Annie McKinnon Frith Daugherty, and a brother, William Herman Frith. Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Geraldee Tucker Frith, and their two sons, Ronald McKinnon Frith of Jackson, a staff attorney with the Miss. House of Representatives, and Robert Harlan Frith (and wife Jennifer), missionaries in Montevideo, Uruguay; Robert and Jennifer’s daughters and their husbands: Bobbi and Pablo Pereyra of Cordova, TN, and their daughters, Sophia Isabelle and Gabriella Juliette; and Brandi and John Carrano of St. Petersburg, FL, and their daughter, Anabelle Paige. He is also survived by one sister, Louise Frith McComb and husband John, of Biloxi. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Bay Vista Baptist Church, Biloxi, or to the South Miss. Humane Society. Services will be held on Thursday, September 3 at Bradford-O’Keefe, Pass Road, Biloxi. Visitation will be from 12:00 until 1:00, with the service at 1:00 p.m. Interment will be at the Biloxi National Cemetery. View and sign register book at www.bradfordokeefe.com