Joseph Charles Frey

On Saturday, October 19, 2024, Joseph ‘Joe’ Frey, loving brother, father, and grandfather, passed away in Westfield, Indiana, at the age of 83. Jose Carlos Frei (Joseph Charles Frey) was born in Mexico City, Mexico on March 7, 1941, to Arany (Lipner) and Mihaly Frey. Joe’s parents immigrated from Hungary to Mexico. When Joe was a toddler, the family relocated to Little Neck, Queens, and then Fresh Meadows, Queens, where Joe grew up with brother Bruce, who was nine years younger than Joe. Joe graduated from Jamaica High School, and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from City College of New York. 

 While in college, Joe was set up on a blind date on Friday the 13th of October 1961 with Sandi Stine, who would become his bride on January 27, 1963. Together, they spent 57 years committed to each other, deeply in love, raising their two children, absolutely doting over their grandaughters and granddogs, until Sandi’s passing in 2020. 

 In 1965, Joe enlisted in the US Army as a 2nd Lieutenant. Because of his chemical engineering degree, Joe was posted as an instructor in the US Army Chemical School at Fort McClellan, Alabama for the duration of his enlistment, and was later inducted into the Army Corps of Engineers. Joe was very proud to be a US Army veteran. After finishing his Army enlistment, Joe and Sandi moved to Fort Worth, Texas, to be closer to Sandi’s family.

Joe was active in the Jewish community in Ft. Worth and felt honored to serve on the new building committee for the Ahavath Sholom Synagogue on Hulen Street. Sandi and Joe were active leaders in the Jewish Marriage Encounter movement in the 1970s and 1980s.  Locally, Joe and Sandi were members of the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation. Joe had diverse and eclectic hobbies that ranged from organic yogurt making to bonsai tree propagation and pruning to long-distance running. Joe was an avid photographer and would flip the laundry room into his darkroom in minutes, where he would process film, develop his own prints, and share the joy and beauty captured on the faces of the people who he cherished. Joe loved a good road trip, always a fan of the oversized, wood-paneled station wagon. Looking back on those trips, so much of the true joy was in the journey, more so than the destination. 

 It was rare to hear Joe say ‘no’ if the question didn’t involve imminent danger. What would always get a resounding ‘YES’ was when one of his children or grandchildren asked if he would buy them a book. A lifelong learner and instructor, Joe still has a bookmark in a book he was reading recently that says, “A room without books is like a body without a soul.” He modeled for his family the importance of education, curiosity, research, and honest and open dialogue. ‘Jeopardy Joe’ was the family’s Trivial Pursuit champion, mega-millionaire at Monopoly, and he was always ready for a competitive game of Mah Jongg. 

 Later in life, Joe shifted engineering fields to packaging engineering at Frito-Lay, working to design the first machinery that made foil-lined bags, which preserved and extended the shelf-life of processed foods. He went on to work in contract packaging, earn his MBA from Indiana University, teach in the business school, and finished his career working for the Internal Revenue Service on classified accounts that tied into his knowledge-base in engineering fields. 

 Joe is preceded in death by his parents, Arany (Lipner) and Mihaly Frey, and his wife of 57 years, Sandra (Stine) Frey. He is survived by cherished brother R. Bruce Frey (Laurie), and adoring children, daughter Melissa Frey, son and bonus daughter M. Scott and Lana (Crouse) Frey. Joe felt exceptionally blessed when he became Poppy to granddaughters Emily and Anna Frey. Joe was also blessed to have many cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends who will miss him dearly. 

 Melissa and Scott would like to extend their deep appreciation to the outstanding staff at Copper Trace Family First Senior Living, who, during the past three years, worked with Joe as he moved from independent living, to skilled nursing, to memory care. Because of the Cherished Memories unit CNAs, nurses, doctors, physical and occupational therapists, specialists, social service providers, and all staff who labored behind the scenes to make this very complicated work look easy, you made our dad’s final years - years he dreaded facing without our mom - some of the sweetest moments of this stage of his life. We will always be so grateful for your compassion and care for Joe. 

 Joe was so smart and kind, he had an infectious laugh and smile, he was simply a mensch. Perhaps more than anything else, Joe never ended a phone call or a FaceTime, signed off on writing a card, or left a room or let you leave a room without saying, “I love you,” in the most sincere, from the depth of his heart way. Knowing Joe was to know that you were truly loved. 

 A graveside ceremony and burial will occur on Monday, October 21, 2024, at 11:00 AM, at Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation Cemetery North at 1300 West 161st, Westfield. To watch the funeral online, please follow this (LINK). In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research or Congregation Beth Shalom, Carmel, IN - Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund. Letters of condolence can be sent to Bruce and Laurie Frey at 7202 Van Hook Drive, Dallas, TX, 75248; Melissa Frey at 17361 Bigleaf Maple Blvd., Apt 1016, Westfield, IN 46074; and/or Scott, Lana, Emily & Anna Frey at 4265 Greenthread Drive, Zionsville, IN 46077.

There will be a shiva minyan on Tuesday, October 22, at 6:00 PM, at Congregation Beth Shalom, 3085 W 116th St, Carmel, IN 46032. All are welcome to join the family.