Historian's Corner

Farewell to William "Bill" D Fries

by Donna Christensen Thomas, National DSS Historian

Did you hear that Bill Fries (pronounced as “Frees”) died on April 1, 2022? Perhaps that name doesn’t “ring a bell” for you. Does “C.W. McCall”? This became his character and stage name for Mr. Fries about fifty years ago. I heard the announcement earlier this month that the “One hit Wonder from Iowa” had died. That’s not quite accurate. While he was best known for the “Convoy” song, he had several more songs which enjoyed commercial successes. Our hometown hero has quite an interesting story and background. He even has Danish ancestry! He died in Ouray, Colorado, age 93, from cancer. Billie Dale Fries was born on on 15 Nov 1928 to William Dale Fries (1892-1952) and Margaret Marie (nee Nielsen) (1907-2000) at Audubon, Iowa, the eldest of four children. Bill, the father, was a foreman for Kozy Manufacturing, which made buildings. The younger Bill later changed his name legally to “William.” According to his wikipedia page, his first performance was at the age of three as he sang “Coming ‘Round the Mountain” in a local talent contest. His father played the violin while his mother played the piano. They played ragtime music together for local dances. Bill became the drum major for the high school marching band and graduated with the class of 1946. Our neighbor, Joy (Madsen) St Peter recalls sledding with him and a few others on the golf course when they were in high school. He went on to college and pursued graphic art and set design which led to an occupation in the advertising industry. I first became aware of this local hero in 1974 as he made a hit with television commercial for Old Home Bread for the Metz Baking Company. The series of commercials chronicled the romance between a truck driver named C.W. McCall and a waitress named Mavis at the Old Home Filler-Up an’ Keep-on-a-Truckin’ Café and truck stop. (You can find these archived on YouTube. com.) He was the voice of the song, but not the actor in the commercials. Nonetheless, the character was “born” and a dozen other hit songs and movies featured the outlaw country songs. Another local talent in the Omaha area, Chip Davis, from the Mannheim Steamroller fame wrote the music. Classically trained Davis, would win County Music Writer of the Year in 1976 in a genre he didn’t even like! The “Convoy” song and others used the the CB radio to rebel against the then new Federal speed limit of 55 mph. In 2014, it was featured in Grand Theft Auto V. In February, as he was interviewed while on hospice care, he gave his blessing for the use of his signature song for the Freedom Convoy protests in Canada and was reportedly “energized and enthusiastic” about the revival of interest in the song and its message. His paternal grandparents were Heinrich Johannes Nicolaus Fries (1847-1899), a laborer, and Catharina (Brasch) (1855-1921). They were immigrants from the Schleswig-Holstein duchies. They had married in 1877 in Davenport, Iowa and had five children. They lived and died in the Brayton, Iowa area of Audubon county. Bill’s maternal grandparents Carl Christian Nielsen (1881-1975) married Myrtle May Webster (1882-1970) whose Webster family came from New England while the Tuten and Neill families were very early pioneer settlers from Ireland and Scotland to Audubon County and go back as early as 1808 there. Carl immigrated in 1890 along with several siblings and parents and was an independent well digger by profession. His father Hans Peter Nielsen (1849-1923) came from Ribe, Denmark and wife Gertrude Marie (Rasmussen) (ca 1853- ?) along with several of their children came to the Kimballton area. Many of their descendants remain in the area. One hundred years ago, Sharon Township, where Kimballton is located, was 95 percent Danish! Today, it remains largely Danish as well. Rest in Peace, Bill Fries!