Gretchen Gover Fronterhouse was born April 6, 1936 and went to be with her Lord and Savior on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012, after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Gretchen was born in Oklahoma City and raised in Altus, daughter of Walter Buck Gover and Marianna Johnson Gover. She graduated from Altus High School and the University of Oklahoma with a B.S. degree in Education, while also taking classes at Mills College in California and the University of Hawaii.

It was at OU that she met her husband of 53 years, Jerry. They married two weeks after their graduation ceremony from OU. Gretchen taught school during the years Jerry served in the U.S. Navy and attended Harvard Business School. They moved to Dallas in 1962 upon completion of his Masters degree.

Above all else, Gretchen was a committed, engaged, and loving wife to Jerry, mother to their two children, Jenny and Jeff, and grandmother to their nine grandchildren. She was very engaged in her children’s activities and being a loving and supportive wife to her husband.

She believed in saying, “Where much has been given, much is expected in return”. She and Jerry were blessed with two healthy children, so she volunteered countless hours at the Easter Seal Society for Crippled Children, where she served as President of the Guild and Chairman of Art About Town, which was the fund raising event for Easter Seals.

She met and made many of her best “forever” friends in that organization. Other dear friends were made in the Bankers Wives Club, Pi Beta Phi Alumni, Dallas Women’s Club, and Dallas Garden Club, among other organizations. She attended Bible Study Fellowship and M and M’s Bible Study and received more than she gave from helping in the pastoral care area of Highland Park United Methodist Church.

Being married to an energetic, adventurous man, she learned to fly an airplane, loved driving their 45-foot touring bus pulling their SUV, and even obtained her real estate license. Jerry and Gretchen’s favorite hobby together was to travel. They went on 17 cruises among other trips. Gretchen celebrated her 20th birthday on the Queen Mary cruising from New York City to London, and one of her last cruises was an over three-month long world cruise on the Queen Mary II in 2011. In fact, her obituary photo (not shown) was taken on a cruise at a Valentine’s Day party this year.

She loved our Lord and had a deep and abiding faith in Him that she lived out on a daily basis. Her favorite verse was Romans 8:28. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Gretchen is survived by her husband, Jerry, her daughter, Jenny Larsen and son-in-law, David Larsen, of Tulsa, son Jeff Fronterhouse and daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Fronterhouse, of Dallas, nine grandchildren Brant, Lindsey, Lauren, Blake, and Laney Larsen, and Carson, Hayden, Alex, and Kara Fronterhouse, brother, John Gover, and sister-in-law Maria Gover, of Altus, sister Jean Gover Cahill and brother-in-law Jack Cahill, of St. Louis, Mo., and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service to celebrate her life was held at Highland Park United Methodist Church on Saturday, Aug. 18, with a reception that followed. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Baylor Healthcare System Foundation, Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center, or UT Southwestern Medical Center.