Jack Ikard Fryrear was born on August 19, 1923, in Blairstown, Henry County, Missouri. He was the son of Fay Cornelius Fryrear and Vera Marticia Ikard Fryrear. He was married to Betty Jean Bowling Fryrear. He attended school in Tuttle, Oklahoma, graduating from high school in 1942. In February 1943, he was inducted into the U.S. Army. T5 Fryrear served in the United States Army with the 740th Tank Battalion in World War II. Known as the “Daredevil Tankers”, the 740th was a separate battalion that fought from Utah Beach all the way to the Baltic Sea in support of various divisions of the US war effort. During World War II, his unit participated in major campaigns including the Battle of the Bulge, the Ardennes, and the Rhineland, and he later served one year with the Army of Occupation in Germany.

After the war, he attended Okmulgee Technical School, earning an associate degree in architectural drafting. In May 1949, he joined the Agricultural Engineering Department at Oklahoma A&M College (now Oklahoma State University) in Stillwater, where he worked on drafting and research project plans. He was also a member of a close-knit group known as the “Frugal Four.” In 1975, the 740th Tank Battalion Association was established, and Jack served as its treasurer for many years. Jack died on March 22, 2017, and is now buried in the Sunset Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum, Stillwater, Payne County, Oklahoma, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, obituaries.stwnewspress.com