| Harold Joseph Frost | Virginia Dale Sternhagen |
|
Harold Joseph Frost, loving husband and father, died on June 12,
2002. He was born in Omaha,
Nebraska on January 21, 1926. He spent his formative years in Lead, SD. where his father was
a miner in the Homestake Gold Mine. He graduated from Lead High School in 1944. Commissioned as
a radio telephone officer in the Coast Guard, he served in the South Pacific and North Atlantic
theaters during World War II.
He married Virginia Dale Sternhagen on August 30, 1947 at Lead, SD. He worked for several years in Billings, MT, where his first two sons were born, as a bookkeeper/auditor for an oil company. He moved back to the Black Hills, and took a job with Black Hills Radio Company, where he used his wartime experience to repair radios. Harold joined AT&T in 1952 in Rapid City, SD. He also worked in Sioux Falls, SD, before transferring to Seattle, WA in 1967 where he practiced engineering and economic evaluations for the company. He was ordained a deacon of the Roman Catholic Church in 1978. He attended Creighton University, Augustana College and the University of Washington. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Economics in 1981. He retired in 1984 from AT&T after 33 years. He was also a hospital chaplain at Providence Medical Center Seattle for 5 years following his retirement from the phone company. He served at Sacred Heart, Holy Family, St. Edward's, and Holy Trinity parishes in the Seattle area. Harold was active in Boy Scouts, the Roman Catholic Church, St. Vincent De Paul Society and hospice. He loved reading, the outdoors, and traveling. He enjoyed spending his winters in Arizona with his wife in their travel trailer. |
Virginia Dale Sternhagen was born August 15, 1928 in Newell, South
Dakota. She died on June 10, 2002. Her parents were George and Beatrice Sternhagen. Virginia
was the youngest of three girls. A few years later, the family moved to Lead, South Dakota.
Work in the mine was dangerous and Virginia's father was killed in a mine accident when she was
eleven years old. Virginia and her family moved to Butte, Montana where her mother married
again and her new stepfather worked in the Anaconda copper mine in Butte. After two years, she
returned to Lead in order to graduate from High School with her life-long classmates.
After graduating from Lead High School in 1946, she worked at a small shop in Deadwood, South Dakota that made Black Hills Gold Jewelry. In 1947, she met and married Harold Frost. They were married in St. Patrick's Church in Lead on August 30, 1947. The family moved to Rapid City, SD, in a few years. Virginia was very busy making a home for her growing family. Before leaving Rapid City, they had five children, who did their best to keep her busy. The oldest five children were boys but she finally had a girl. Virginia was delighted to have a daughter. After moving to Sioux Falls, SD, she had two more boys. Eventually Virginia and Harold came to the Seattle area and Virginia had a ninth child who was another lovely little girl. The family lived in Bellevue for twenty-three years, moving to Shelton after Harold retired. Virginia was always busy with church groups and with school. At one time, she also was a Cub Scout Pack leader when no father would step forward to serve. Virginia always had a number of hobbies including sewing, knitting, and ceramic painting and gardening. She later became a Master Gardener, helping others with her skills. |
Last revised February 27, 2005.