Collen Fries
SEYMOUR – Colleen Fries, the former town attorney and the vice president of Seymour Pink who passed away Dec. 23, is being remembered as a fighter and dear friend, always willing to lend a helping hand.
Fries, 67, passed away after courageously facing the challenges of multiple myeloma for nine years, according to her obituary.
Born in Lancaster, PA, Fries called Seymour home for the past 40 years. She served as town attorney in Seymour for former Democratic First Selectman John O’Toole in the early 1990s and again for former Democratic First Selectman Paul Roy from 2009 to 2011.
Fries also served as vice president of Seymour Pink, Inc., the nonprofit organization that supports the community’s fight against breast cancer. Fries was an active member of the Seymour Democratic Town Committee and served a short time on the Seymour Board of Police Commissioners.
Seymour Pink founder Mary Deming was a close friend. Deming told the Valley Indy she is devastated by Fries’ passing.
“Our friendship was one of the dearest blessings in my life,” Deming told the Valley Indy Wednesday (Jan. 3.) “Our hearts are broken, actually shattered.”
In a Facebook post, Deming wrote about Fries’ character.
“Her nine-year battle with the war multiple myeloma waged on her body is over,” Deming wrote. “A giver, a fighter, a steward of justice, an individual who was always there for those in need, those less fortunate, those who had been dealt a difficult hand in their life.”
Deming said Fries was the first to step up to help people.
“If someone needed legal guidance, a helping hand, Colleen quietly offered her help, no strings attached,” Deming said.
Deming said Fries’ legal and event planning expertise, especially during the annual Seymour Pink Night to Remember, where survivors are honored, helped the grassroots organization experience tremendous growth. Fries was content in knowing things went smoothly and never sought recognition for the work she did, Deming said.
“She always stepped back at, or after one of our fundraising events, and would say, ‘Build it and they will come.’ Colleen, you have helped to build Seymour Pink into a nonprofit organization that everyone comes to. To say our hearts are shattered into a thousand pieces doesn’t begin to express our pain, but Colleen our comfort comes from knowing the Lord has wrapped you in His eternal peace.”
Another good friend of Fries, former Democratic state representative. and current Seymour Selectman Theresa Conroy, led a moment of silence in Fries’ honor before the start of the Jan. 2 Seymour Board of Selectpersons meeting.
“I’ve known Colleen since I got involved in politics with the Seymour Democratic Town Committee,” Conroy said. “She was always a good, strong friend for me. She is going to be dearly missed by this town.”
Conroy, in a Facebook post following Fries’ passing, said Fries was a fighter.
“She was always optimistic about her illness and fought it hard. I would never have thought that this last bout of multiple myeloma would be the last,” Conroy wrote in her post. “She was a mentor, friend, and once or twice, stood by my side as I made difficult legislative decisions.
Roy recalled his first day in office as First Selectman when Fries flexed her matter-of-fact style as town attorney in 2009.
“She came into my office, closed the door, looked me straight in the face and said “don’t ever sign anything without me looking at it first,” Roy said. “That advice for the most part kept me out of hot water. The other thing that I think about is what a good, personal friend she was to myself and my wife. We will miss her dearly.”
Fries, a graduate of Brandywine College in Wilmington, DE, Fairfield University and the University of Connecticut School of Law, was a founding partner of the Shelton-based law firm Coyne, VonKuhn, Brady and Fries, LLC.
Calling hours for Fries will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. January 20 at the Shaughnessey Banks Funeral Home, 50 Reef Road, Fairfield.
The family is asking all who come to wear something pink in recognition of Fries’ devotion to Seymour Pink. Gifts and donations in Fries’ memory can be sent to: http://www.seymourpink.com/join-the-fight/donate/.
