A Special Marriage & Friendship Forged

Natalie and Jerry spent 67 happily married years together.

Life is a journey, as the saying goes. The journey for Jerry and Natalie Frager was all things wonderful, filled with a beautiful family and love of their Jewish faith.

The happy couple met in college in Columbia, Missouri. Natalie (Z”L) went to Stephens College; Jerry went to the University of Missouri. They eventually married at Baron Hirsch Congregation in Memphis, where they were members, and their family blossomed to five children – four sons and a daughter: Yehuda, Bruce, Sara Beth, David, Barry – “all of whom are very successful and scattered across the U.S.,” Jerry said with pride. “Several of our children went to the Margolin Hebrew Academy-Feinstone Yeshiva of the South.”

Their first child, Yehuda, was actually born in Japan, where the couple spent their first year of marriage. After both Jerry and Natalie graduated college in 1952, Jerry was immediately sent to Japan, stationed at an Air Force base, where he led a supply squadron as an officer in charge of material – think shipping and receiving – during the Korean War.

“I’ll never forget the doctor who delivered Yehuda – he was a Jewish doctor,” remembers Jerry. “He delivered the baby and gave him a brit milah (circumcision) in Fukuoka, Japan!”

The military lifestyle had the family moving often; they spent time in Denver, Cheyenne, San Antonio, and other cities. “The government was good to us,” Jerry said. After two years, the Fragers came home to Memphis in 1954. Natalie was from Birmingham but had spent much of her childhood in Memphis with family and friends. Jerry’s career was in commercial real estate, and he was also in the Air Force Reserves as a Lt. Colonel. Natalie emersed herself in local organizations including Hadassah, Memphis Jewish Federation, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and many more.

Over Jerry and Natalie’s 67 beautiful years as a happily married couple, some of the highlights of their lives together include raising their children surrounded by love, education, and music, enjoying their 30+ grandchildren and great-grandchildren, traveling, especially to Israel, and sharing their Judaism.

In particular, keeping a kosher home was very important in general and “because several of our children are very serious about their faith,” Jerry explained. “We made sure to find the kosher outfitters and restaurants to support, too.”