– Contributed photo
By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor
WALKERVILLE — Jerry Frick, who served on the Walkerville Fire Department for over half a century, passed away last week. He was 83 years old.
The community leader was the Walkerville fire chief for at least 33 years and dedicated his life to public service. He owned Walkerville Well Drilling.
Frick served on the Walkerville United Methodist church board; 11 years on the Walkerville Public School Board; six years on the Oceana County Intermediate School Board; numerous years as president of the Walkerville Village Council; and over 30 years as the Oceana County deputy emergency management director, his obituary states.
“Jerry spent his whole childhood around the family business, Walkerville Well Drilling, with his father and brother,” states his obituary. “He grew from helper, to licensed driller, to master electrician, to owning the business and has continued to work there helping in any way he could up until the day he died.
“Along with running his business, Jerry held positions on the National Water Well Association and the Michigan Ground Water Association Board of Directors. He was always striving to learn more so he could give back more,” states his obituary.
“This can be seen in the level of Jerry’s involvement in his community where he gave a tremendous amount of time serving on various committees and leadership positions.
“He poured untold hours into writing grants and procuring donations for new fire/EMS equipment, fire prevention and training equipment,” states his obituary. “As village president, his grant writing was instrumental in bringing improvements to the community such as building the fire station, fixing roads, getting high speed internet, and the village sewer system, just to name a few.
“Jerry was an avid reader and had a love for learning. He enjoyed traveling to historic areas throughout the country with his family, and if you ever asked Jerry about his family, you were bound to hear many stories about his grandkids, whom he was extremely proud of.”
Frick’s son, Greg, unexpectedly died less than a year ago at the age of 57. Like his father, Greg also served as the fire
department’s chief for many years.
The Frick family has a long history of serving the fire department. Greg Frick, took over as fire chief for his father in 2000. Prior to Jerry serving as fire chief, his father Lyle was the fire chief, beginning in 1945.
Frick was an inspiration and mentor to his younger colleagues.
“He had a lot of positive effect on a lot of firefighters and the community as a whole,” said Walkerville Police Chief Brian Hintz, who served on the Walkerville Fire Department for seven years and is now a firefighter for the Shelby-Benona Fire Department. “I can remember all the years he was the village president and all the things he did for the village. He was always one to volunteer and step up for his small town. He did just about everything in Walkerville that you can do in a lifetime.”
Hintz remembers meeting Frick when he was a young boy. “My grandpa (Walter Wheeler) was the Elbridge Township supervisor for a long time, and they were close friends and worked closely together on a lot of things. I worked on my grandparents’ farm, and Jerry would always come by and talk over government things with my grandpa. That’s how I started getting into the fire department back then.” Frick inspired Hintz to pursue a career in public service, and he has certainly followed suit. In addition to his public service as the part-time Walkerville police chief and volunteering on the Shelby-Benona Fire Department, he also works part-time as a Hart police officer and full-time as a Muskegon County sheriff’s deputy.
“That man was wonderful to his community and dedicated to his community,” said Stephanie Van Sickle, who is the administrator for the Walkerville Fire Department and EMT for the rescue squad. Van Sickle, who has also served as the Elbridge Township clerk for 30 years, had worked closely with Frick over the last few decades. She was trained by Frick for the administrative position. “He was my mentor — he was my go-to person. He was a wealth of knowledge.”
“We lost a valuable community member,” said Walkerville Firefighter Leonard Amador. “I joined the fire department 11 years ago, and during those 11 years I worked side-by-side with Jerry until he retired. He taught me everything I know. Every bit of knowledge he knew in his 50 years on the fire department, he was instilling in me. I couldn’t ask to be trained by a better person.” Amador said Frick was the “patriarch” not only for the community of Walkerville but also Oceana County.
“Jerry has done a lot for the county, but you add what he’s done for Walkerville village and Walkerville Fire Department. Jerry didn’t stop at one thing — Jerry helped wherever he could. Wherever there was a need, he stepped up and filled in. He impacted the fire service in this county and in other counties as well.” Amador said Frick was like a family member to him. “It hurts — it hurts a lot.”
The Michigan Association of Firefighters recently honored Greg Frick by adding his name to the state memorial, and now Jerry will also be honored, said Hintz. “I’m part of the Michigan firefighters association, and we run the state memorial for firefighters who have passed in the line of duty or if they had 10 years of experience and pass away. It’s sad timing that we had just honored his son.”
Jerry Frick is survived by his wife of 61 years, Verla; daughter, Angela (Mike) Slowik; grandchildren, Kaylee (Frank) Acosta, Kevin (Allyson) Slowik, and Nathan (Moriah) Slowik; and sister, Carol.
A visitation is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 19, from 1-3 p.m. at Walkerville United Methodist Church, 189 East Main St. The firefighters plan to attend the memorial and wear their uniforms in his honor, said Van Sickle.
For the complete obituary, click here https://www.harrisfhome.com/obituary/Jerry-Frick
The Oceana County Press team extends its deepest condolences to the Frick family.
____________________
Please Support Local News
Receive daily MCP and OCP news briefings along with email news alerts for $10 a month. Your contribution will help us to continue to provide you with free local news.
Payment can be made monthly via credit card, bank account, PayPal or Venmo through recurring email invoicing. These payments can be set up for autopay each month.
To sign up, email editor@mediagroup31.com. In the subject line write: Subscription. Please supply your name, email address, mailing address, and phone number (indicate cell phone). We will not share your information with any outside sources. For more than one email address in a household, the cost is $15 per month per email address.
Alternative methods:
- We can send you an invoice for a yearly payment of $120, which you can conveniently pay online or by check. If you are interested in this method, please email editor@mediagroup31.com and we can sign you up. You can also mail a yearly check for $120 to Media Group 31, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454 (please include your email address).
Payment must be made in advance prior to subscription activation.
We appreciate all our readers regardless of whether they choose to continue to access our service for free or with a monthly financial support.
_____
This story and original photography are copyrighted © 2025, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent.
As the services of Media Group 31, LLC are news services, the information posted within the sites are archivable for public record and historical posterity. For this reason it is the policy and practice of this company to not delete postings. It is the editor’s discretion to update or edit a story when/if new information becomes available. This may be done by editing the posted story or posting a new “follow-up” story. Media Group 31, LLC or any of its agents have the right to make any changes to this policy. Refer to Use Policy for more information.
.png)
