Eva Frayne

Eva R. Frayne passed away on Monday, July 22, 2024, in Champaign-Urbana, about two months after her 92nd birthday.

Eva was born in Camden, N.J., on May 1, 1932, the daughter of Heinrich and Martha Rostek, who were born in Germany. Her family moved to Germany shortly after her birth, where Eva received her primary education, during World War II.

After World War II ended, in 1947, Eva moved to relatives in Riverside, N.J., and a few years later, she was joined by her parents, her grandmother, and her sister, Christel. Eva graduated from Riverside High School, and went on to Temple University, where she earned the B.A. degree, majoring in French. After a period of working for the Lutheran’s Children’s Bureau in Philadelphia, she enrolled in the 1950s in the Graduate School at Columbia University in New York. There she earned a M.A. degree in German, and she went on to take the necessary courses for the Ph.D. in that same subject.

In 1958, she met John Frayne, who was a student in one of her German classes, and on Sept. 13, they married at Corpus Christi Church on Morningside Heights, Manhattan. Her sons, Patrick, in 1959, and Henry, in 1965, were born in New York, while John was working to complete his Ph.D. in English at Columbia. Aside from Columbia College, Eva taught at Hunter College, and the Newark, N.J., branch of Rutgers University.

In 1965, her family moved to Champaign, when John was hired as assistant professor in the English Department at UIUC. In 1968, when Parkland College started, Eva was a member of the original faculty, teaching German. There she taught German and Humanities until the end of the century, when she retired, after which she taught part time for some years. At Parkland, she became well known as “the Bread Lady,” for her selling of German rye bread, imported from Chicago, to support Parkland’s German Club, whose members went with Eva on numerous trips to Chicago and Indianapolis.

Eva was a passionate lover of music, and over several decades, she went to hundreds of concerts with John, who was writing reviews for The News-Gazette, reviews which she corrected in manuscript. She was an ardent supporter of John’s radio programs for WILL-FM, and she was responsible for making an archive recording of his programs at their home. Her great love was the music of J. S. Bach, whose “Art of the Fugue” she listened to, while grading German lessons. In other musical activities, she belonged to a group of recorder players who met on a regular basis.

Eva also belonged to the Staley Unit of the Champaign County Home and Community Organization, where she acted as a reporter of cultural activities. As a member of Grace Lutheran Church, Champaign, she served on the Social Ministry Committee.

Eva, with her family, made frequent trips to Europe, and in 1972, the family spent a sabbatical in Vienna, Austria. In 1977, her family bought a seaside cottage on Sprucehead Island, south of Rockland, Maine, where they spent many happy summers. In 1991, her family acquired a farm property on the Sangamon River, near Allerton Park in Piatt County, where Eva could exercise her love of gardening.

She is survived by her husband, John, and her sons Henry, who lives in Champaign, and Patrick, and his wife, Kim, who live in New Port Richey, Fla., and her grandchildren, Dana, in New York, and Dylan, of Champaign, and also her sister in law, Mary Dominguez, of New Port Richey, and nephew Jeff Mattern, and niece, Linda Lewis, both of the Columbus, Ohio area. Her steadfast devotion to those she loved will be an inspiration to all who knew her.   

There will be a visitation from 5 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31, at Owens Funeral Home (101 N. Elm St.) in Champaign. The funeral service will be at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 1, at Grace Lutheran Church (313 S. Prospect Ave.) in Champaign.  There will be a brief reception immediately following the funeral ceremony in the Church Fellowship Hall, followed by the committal service at 2:45 p.m. at Woodlawn Cemetery in Urbana.  

Condolences may be offered at www.owensfuneralhomes.com.

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