QUE PASA
Newsletter of the National Federation of the Blind of New Mexico
September 2014
Who Was At The First Meeting Of The NFB Of New Mexico?
By Peggy Chong
In 2016, NFB of New Mexico will celebrate its 60th birthday. I got to wondering, who was at that first meeting, and why and where did they go. It would seem that in honor of our 60th, we might want to know more about our founders and share more information with each other about the founding members. I would like to introduce you to one of the original members of this affiliate: Walter A. Frady.
Walter was born in Neligh, Nebraska on December 26, 1889. In 1913, he married Mildred and they had a son, Robert. Walter worked as a salesman for the Goodyear Tire Company for many years. After the death of his first wife, he moved to Independence, Missouri and got another sales position. He also married Frieda in 1929. Walter was a tall man with blue eyes and black hair in his youth, but it started going gray by his late forties. Somewhere about this time, he lost his eyesight.
He moved to Gallup and operated a vending stand, selling magazines, newspapers, candy and such at the Gallup Post Office. Mr. and Mrs. Frady lived in an apartment building on Hill Street. Walter was active in the local community as a member of the Elks Club. He also was a past Director of the Gallup Lions Club, chairing some of their fundraisers. In 1957, he and two other men from Gallup attended the International Lions Convention in San Francisco.
Walter had kept in touch with his son Robert, even though as a young boy, Robert had gone to live with his aunt after the death of his mother. Robert had moved to Albuquerque for his work. So Walter's grandsons would come to visit their grandfather in Gallup. Many times the visits were noted in the Gallup Independent. Robert named his first son William Walter, after his father. At the time of Walter's death, he had four grandsons.
Walter was one of the first members of the newly-formed affiliate of the NFB of New Mexico. He was only a member for a short time, but he wanted to be active in the newly-formed organization.
Walter died on April 22, 1958. He had been planning to attend the second annual convention of the new affiliate. His wife, Frieda did attend in his memory.