This is a memorable (and scary) family story
my grandparents, Kenneth and Elizabeth Frye, recorded about a tragic incident that happened to their son
Ronald (my uncle) during a family trip. Grandpa recorded the story in an audio interview,
and grandma recorded the story two separate times in a journal. I combined the
three accounts into this adaption, and the original sources can be accessed using the links at the very bottom. Here is the story:
"Ronald's
Gone"
 |
| 1951 Mercury Sedan Rear-hinged doors in the back |
In May 1951, Kenneth and
Elizabeth Frye traded in their Cadillac for a beautiful, new Mercury. It
was a good sized car and the rear passenger doors were rear-hinged
which opened from front to back. This configuration came to be known
as “suicide doors” because when a door was opened while moving,
the wind would push against the door making it difficult to close.
In December, Kenneth and
Elizabeth drove their new car from Washington D.C. to Missouri to
visit Kenneth's family. They were accompanied by four of their young
children – Kenny (~10 years), Cheryl (~8 years), Ronald (~6 years)
and Michael (~4 years). The children were used to traveling and were
obedient to precautions and warnings they were given. The drive to
Missouri and the time spent there was uneventful of any difficulty.
 |
| 1951 Mercury Sedan The back seat & no seat-belts |
On the return trip to
Washington D.C., they were in the Toledo/Zanesville, Ohio area.
Elizabeth was in the back seat sleeping – or at least trying –
among laughing and playful children. They were cruising the highway
at about 65 miles per hour. All the doors were locked. Ronald and
Michael were also in the back seat with mother, while Kenny and
Cheryl were in the front with father.
Suddenly, a great blast of
air filled the car strong enough that it caused the car to swerve.
Kenneth had to fight the steering wheel to keep control of the car.
The strong blast of air awoke Elizabeth, and both she and Kenneth
heard the words, presumably from Michael, “Ronald's gone!”
Elizabeth's blood ran cold
when she noticed the right-rear back door was open and Ronald was
missing! Michael began reaching for the open door, but Kenneth
reached back and strongly pushed him back into Elizabeth’s arms.
(Cars at the time did not have seat-belts to restrain children or
passengers.)
 |
| 1951 Mercury Sedan |
Through the rear-view
mirror, Kenneth saw Ronald rolling like a tumbleweed on the shoulder
of the road. With panic and fear, Kenneth thought surely Ronald was
dead. He stopped the car about a block from where Ronald had fallen.
A cloud of dust obscured Elizabeth's view through the back window.
She was certain no one could have survived a fall from a car moving
at 65 miles an hour, and at the least every bone in Ronald’s body
would be broken.
Elizabeth got out of the
car and started back to Ronald, but she felt she should get back in
the car and say a quick prayer. Kenneth was also getting out of the
car, but before he left, Elizabeth put her hand on his shoulder and
told him to wait so a little prayer could be uttered. Kenneth's
immediate reaction was the opposite and he almost said, “Now is no
time to pray! Now is the time for action!” However, Elizabeth
offered a quick prayer and after which Kenneth ran back to Ronald.
By the time Kenneth
arrived, Ronald was already standing on his feet! Kenneth couldn't
believe it and was shocked that Ronald had survived. He was bleeding,
burned, cut and scraped but was not crying from physical pain.
Instead, he was crying because he had ripped his new overall jeans!
Ronald was more worried about his jeans than himself!
Kenneth asked Ronald to
take a few steps. He did and Kenneth asked if he was able to walk to
the car. However, Elizabeth and a bystander who had stopped at the
scene insisted it was not a good idea to have Ronald walk. Ronald was
then carried to the car by Kenneth and/or the bystander.
The same bystander who had
stopped escorted Kenneth and Elizabeth to the next town about 15-30
miles away. There they found a motorcycle policeman and explained the
situation to him. Turning on his siren, the motorcycle policeman then
drove at very high speeds to lead them to a hospital in Zanesville (Ohio).
The officer drove so fast they could hardly keep up but had to
because they didn't know where to go and it was getting dark outside.
Part of the drive included a very winding road to the
top of a hill where the hospital was located. Elizabeth thought the fast-paced drive was the most
frightening ride of her life and that everyone was going to end up in
the hospital injured.
They safely arrived at the
hospital then had to wait another hour and a half to see a doctor.
Ronald was eventually examined and x-rays were taken. No bones were
broken and no teeth were knocked out, but he was cut and scraped
quite a bit, and his lips were very swollen. Ronald was bandaged and
cleaned up and admitted for overnight for observation. Hospital rules
did not allow parents to stay with their children, so Kenneth,
Elizabeth, and the children stayed at a nearby hotel.
 |
| Frye family taken 1 December 1950 at their house 2005 32nd Place S.E., Washington D.C. Back row (left to right): Kenneth Sr., Kenneth Jr., Elizabeth Front row (left to right): Cheryl, Ronald, Michael |
The following day Ronald
was discharged from the hospital. Before leaving, however, Kenneth
had tied the front and back doors together so they could not come
open. They had discovered that locking their new car from the inside
did no good as a passenger could raise the handle to unlock the door.
Their Cadillac doors stayed locked until a knob was pulled up, but
they hadn't had the new Mercury long enough to realize the doors
would unlock by just raising the handle. (Kenneth had previously
purchased some devices to keep the Mercury's doors closed, but he had forgotten about them since they were in the car's glove box and they
weren't installed.)
Without any further
incident, the family soon arrived back home in Washington D.C..
Elizabeth later recorded, “I am thankful I took the time to say a
prayer in our son's behalf.” Kenneth later said, “I could not
believe that such a miraculous thing could happen to me or my son or
my family. I have no doubt that through divine action […] the
prayer my good wife had uttered was answered.”
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Below is the original audio recording of Kenneth Frye telling the story on Tuesday, March 25, 1997:
This audio clip is part of an interview with Kenneth Leroy Frye Sr. done by his daughters, Linda (Hartley) and Cheryl (Locey), on Tuesday, March 25, 1997. The interview took place at Cheryl's house in Alamo, California. Linda was there in California on spring break and away from her home in Murray, Utah.
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Here are links to the accounts written by Elizabeth Frye about the story:
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* My grandpa Kenneth Frye stated in an
audio recording they purchased a new Nash. This is a different model
than what my Grandma Elizabeth Frye recorded. Grandma Frye was known
to keep good notes, and she recorded in a journal they purchased a
new Mercury. Mercury was also manufactured by Ford, and Grandpa Frye
was known to be a big Ford fan, so it makes sense they could have
purchased a Mercury. Regardless, both the Nash and Mercury models at the
time (1951 and thereabouts) both had rear-hinged doors, so it does
not change the story.
** Linda was probably alive at the time
of the story and nearly one year old. Michael Frye, a son of Kenneth
and Elizabeth, indicated the family also commonly used a nanny and it
was very possible Linda stayed with the nanny while the rest of the
family was on the trip.
Adaption and footnotes
written by Thomas Hartley, grandson to Kenneth and Elizabeth Frye.
January 20, 2018. Kenneth and Elizabeth's children, Michael and Linda
(my mother), were consulted about the story and reviewed and approved the adaption.
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