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Frances Friley Kuypfer

A daughter's memories: Frances Friley Kuypfer

Frances Friley was 11 when she moved into the Knoll with her mother, Vera, and father, President Charles Friley, in 1936. Frances, who graduated from Iowa State in 1947, reminisces about a simple, fun-filled life.

“The late ‘30s were a laid-back time. We didn’t rush as much. There weren’t as many students, and it was like a big family. I remember my folks would have lawn parties for graduating seniors, and mother would always have freshman women in for teas. I remember one Christmas tea she had for mothers and their children. My mother had made bean bags in the shape of frogs. We started throwing them and getting very wild. The event ended when one of the frogs landed in a coffee cup. It was very exciting.

“We’d often entertain artists who came for the concert series, and I remember when Burl Ives came to the Knoll. My dad played the piano, and I remember huge Burl Ives and my dad at the piano, singing. Dad tried to force some culture on me: I took piano lessons from Iowa State’s Ira Shroeder. But it wasn’t many weeks before Professor Shroeder called my mother and said, ‘It’s a waste of my time and your money. Let Frances play baseball.’

“I married Stuart Kuypfer at the Knoll on April 23, 1949, after I graduated from Iowa State. I started out majoring in home economics, but I found it to be very difficult; I flunked tomato soup. So I transferred to history and government. Ever since then, I haven’t been able to make tomato soup.

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