On October 23, 1933, Charles and Juanita Fry gave birth to a son in Sweetwater, Texas. Unbeknownst to his mother, Tommy’s dad, Charlie, proudly blessed his son with the name Thomas Joseph Fry. Tommy did not know his name was “Thomas” until his mother died in 1984 while going through his mother’s personal effects. So, at the age of 51, he had his name legally changed to “Tommy Joe” to match all of his legal identification documents.
Tommy’s parents taught him to love education and the arts. During Tommy’s sixth grade year, the Sweetwater High School Band played a concert at Eastward Elementary, and Tommy was hooked. The program featured a wonderful cornet soloist—a girl—and Tommy was certain that if a girl could play that well then he—a boy—could play equally as well. However, he needed a horn, specifically a cornet, and there were few cornets in tiny Sweetwater, TX. Undaunted, Charlie Fry found Tommy a cornet and Tommy’s musical career began.
Tommy diligently practiced his cornet and, though he tried hard, the sounds were not quite so melodious. Tommy needed lessons. Charlie remembered that a janitor, Shorty, at the elementary school played with a circus band years earlier and Charlie convinced Shorty to give Tommy lessons. Shorty was not strong on pedagogy, but he wrote out the tunes from his circus days and taught Tommy how to play by rote. By the time summer band began, Tommy dazzled his fellow beginning instrumentalists with a magnificent repertoire of the great old circus tunes. He received a more conventional teaching approach while at Reagan Junior High School and it was there that Tommy met his future duet partner, chair-challenge rival, and lifelong friend, Francis McBeth. Together, Tommy and Francis performed regularly at the Lamar Street Baptist Church, where Francis’ father was the preacher. Then Francis’ father accepted a church in another town and Francis moved away. Tommy next saw his old friend in Galveston as a member of the Texas All-State Choir.
Throughout his high school years, Tommy competed in UIL competitions and won first division awards for five consecutive years. Tommy also entered the UIL student-conducting contests for which he also received first division ratings. After graduating from Newman High School in 1951, Tommy received a scholarship to attend McMurry College, in Abilene, TX, where he studied music education. While at McMurry, Tommy studied music theory and composition with Dr. Macon Sumerlin. Macon encouraged the aspiring composer to write and seek publication and he reunited him with his old friend, Francis McBeth, who was a student at Hardin-Simmons University, also in Abilene, TX.
Tommy accepted his first teaching job as band director in his hometown junior high school in Sweetwater, TX in 1955. One week before school began, he learned that he was also the choir director. After arguing vehemently that he was ill prepared to direct a choir, he conceded to the principal’s logic that bands and choirs use the same notes and “music is music.” The band did well at contest that year; the choir did better, receiving a first division rating in concert at UIL. It was definitely a year of firsts – first job as band director, first job as choir director, first UIL success, and the birth of his first daughter Sherri Lynn.
In 1957, Tommy moved his family, now to include his second daughter Coni, to Rotan, TX, where he accepted the high school band director position. He later moved to Big Spring and eventually to Levelland, serving as band director at the high school in each location.
In 1960, Tommy accepted a position to manage May and Duncan Music, a music store in Odessa, TX, where he was the primary music purchaser for the main music store and its four branch locations. Soon after, in 1962, Tommy’s son Michael was born. It was at May and Duncan Music that Tommy met and fell in love with Bobbye Wilhite, of Odessa, TX, and they married in 1974. Through his interactions with band directors, who frequented the music store, Tommy honed his skills as a clinician, advisor, and adjudicator. He also practiced his craft of writing and many bands became the testing grounds for his compositions. As his craft improved, his reputation grew and his compositions were accepted for publication. He was also accepted as a member of the American Society of Composers and Publishers based upon his publications.
In 1979, Tommy accepted the band director position at his alma mater, McMurry College, in Abilene. He and Macon Sumerlin, who was still teaching at McMurry College, had daily coffee breaks at the Kettle Restaurant, where the waitresses supplied them with napkins for their compositions so they would stop writing on the table. In 1989, Tommy suffered a heart attack that required quadruple by-pass surgery. He recovered from the surgery well, but his vocal chords were damaged which kept him blissfully silent for two months. In 1990, because of his limited vocal capacity, Tommy accepted the teaching responsibilities of his now retired friend, Macon Sumerlin, and began teaching music theory and composition. In May 1997, Tommy retired from McMurry College (now McMurry University) after 18 years of teaching and the university recognized Tommy as Associate Professor of Music, Emeritus. In July 1997, his wife, Bobbye, became the registrar at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, TX and Tommy started working for Southern Music Company in the publications department as a music editor. In this position, he prepared the new music submissions for publication. Ironically, his first editorial assignment was none other than the composer, Francis McBeth, his longtime friend. Tommy retired from Southern Music when the store closed in 2012.
Throughout his career, and even in his retirement, Tommy wrote numerous compositions for both band and orchestra. Many of his compositions were works commissioned by various performance groups or were written for smaller, more personally specific groups, such as the University of the Incarnate Word Band and the First Baptist Church Orchestra, for which publication was not sought. His compositions remain on various state UIL band and orchestra prescribed music contest lists throughout the United States and many pieces are played widely internationally as well. The United States Army Field Band, the premier touring band for the Army, performs his march, Frieschutz Quickstep, regularly.
Tommy held membership in the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA), Texas Bandmasters Association (TBA), Texas Music Adjudicators Association (TMAA), Phi Beta Mu, Honorary Life membership in Phi Mu Alfa Sinfonia, and Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. He received numerous awards in recognition of his contributions to the music profession, both as a teacher and as a music editor.
He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Bobbye, his daughters Sherri (Jim) Steele and Coni Sims, six grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren, his sister Mickey Blair, and several nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by is parents, Charles and Juanita Fry, and his son, Michael. To commemorate his passing, in lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Tommy’s memory to the First Baptist Church Orchestra, 515 McCullough Ave, San Antonio, TX 78215 or through fbcsa.org. Please use the “Memorials and Honorarium” in the “Giving Type” link and indicate “Tommy Fry” in the memo line.
He will have services rendered July 21, 2021 at 3pm at First Baptist Church located at 515 McCullough Ave, San Antonio, TX 78215.
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