Former teacher Jim Frey remembered as motivator

Blessed with a broad skill set and diverse interests, the late Jim Frey, who served La Conner Schools for more than a decade as a teacher, coach, counselor and principal, is most remembered for having brought out the best in others.

He did so, according to those who knew him well, not only by unfailingly putting service above self-interest but doing so with a blend of compassion, encouragement and humor that his strong faith assured never faltered regardless of circumstances.

Frey, who died Jan. 30 at age 83, was by nature a motivator.

His caring approach produced success in La Conner’s classrooms and on its athletic fields and later through the consulting work and business ventures he engaged in after leaving public education.

La Conner area residents of a certain age have told the Weekly News they recall Frey mostly for the enduring impact he had during their student years, delivering lessons and guidance to last a lifetime.

“Jim saw potential in his students,” recalled Rev. Don Robinson, whom Frey – then the Braves’ head football coach – recruited as one of the team’s managers.

“An injury to my hip the year before precluded me from ever playing the game,” Robinson said, “but Jim gave me a place on the team. Like so many other students, Jim took an interest in me, welcomed and encouraged me.”

For Robinson, the timing could not have been better. That 1968 team went undefeated and finished the season ranked No. 4 among the state’s Class B programs. Many consider it the best football team in school history.

“At the end of that undefeated season, at the awards banquet,” Robinson said, “I was given the same mug with my name on it that the other players received. I belonged. Jim gave me a place.”

Robinson credits Frey, who was active in various Baptist ministries and later launched a construction firm, with laying the foundation for his becoming a pastor.

"I remember Jim as a mentor and friend," said Robinson. “His investment and involvement in my life helped prepare me for my own vocation.”

Reggie Nelson, who was to follow Frey into education, likewise found him instrumental.

“He was a great role model,” Nelson said of Frey. “He treated us with respect and we respected him in return. I often thought about Jim during my own teaching and coaching career. Little lessons I learned on how to treat my students and athletes certainly were reflections of many teachers and coaches I had myself, but true of coach Frey in particular.

“I made my choice to go into education,” said Nelson, “because of the impact he had on me at La Conner High School. His Christian witness to everyone he met was one of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

Tom Zimmerman, who quarterbacked the unbeaten 1968 La Conner football team, remembered Frey as an innovator.

“Coach Frey liked to have fun,” said Zimmerman, who recently retired after a long run with Dunlap Towing. “He was always putting in trick plays.”

One of those, which worked beautifully against Granite Falls – a foe that had previously given La Conner fits – was the lonely end play. Zimmerman said Frey set the play up while making multiple substitutions, having one player stand just in-bounds while appearing to be on the sidelines. He would be wide open for a Zimmerman pass once the ball was snapped.

“That play was made illegal the next year,” Zimmerman quipped.

Zimmerman’s teammate, David Hedlin, now a leading figure in Skagit County agriculture, said he was among those who benefited from Frey’s knack for player development.

“He had a pretty profound effect on my life in high school,” said Hedlin, who would go on to serve as a school board member. “I went from being a clumsy farm kid to a decent tackle my senior year. That had a lot to do with Jim. He knew how to bring out the best in people.”

Hedlin said Frey engineered a remarkable turnaround for the Braves, taking a team that struggled mightily in 1967 and guiding it to an unblemished mark (other than one tie) a year later.

Frey employed a similar innovative game plan in the classroom, where he shunned the traditional “read the chapter, answer the questions at the end” teaching model. He taught a law class in the early 1970s without using a textbook. Instead, he read aloud and assigned students to analyze Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham jail” and arranged regular field trips to view courtroom trials in Skagit, Snohomish and King counties.

“The kids who had Jim Frey in school,” said his former school colleague Maureen Harlan, “really appreciated him.”

Frey connected with students beyond school walls, too. He and Kay, his wife of more than 60 years, opened their Pleasant Ridge home – later to become the Downey House B&B they operated as innkeepers for nearly a decade – to senior classes for breakfasts the morning after the high school commencement exercises. Those breakfasts were the last time class members would be together before going their separate ways.

As a contractor and innkeeper, Frey remained committed to positive outcomes for students and young adults. He and Harlan joined others in speaking to groups far and wide on the merits of education and leadership related topics.

“During his presentations, when he would start talking about his grandkids, he would get teary,” Harlan said. “He had a hard time making it through those.”

Tall, strong and athletic, Frey never shied from showing emotion.

“He had a very positive outlook on life and wasn’t afraid to laugh and smile,” Nelson said. “I remember his smile would fill up his entire face.”

Memories of that smile have in turn continued to bring smiles to those Frey taught and coached.

“He was so very positive in every interaction,” stressed Nelson. “It’s not always possible to feel totally at ease and safe around every adult we counter as a young person, but Jim had that effect on me and many others.”