 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 The year was 1927, late in the fall. In America, college students were swallowing goldfish for kicks and their parents were condemning the Charleston. The big stock market crash of 1929 was just around the corner. In Russia, in beautiful little Fras Village about five miles from the Black Sea shore, a pall had settled over the single row of white houses with white picket fences facing the grist mill, which was one of the main sources of the town's income and livelihood. An Orthodox priest was leading a funeral procession along the road to the cemetery a half mile outside the village. Two and a half year old Jim's father Ivan, had been taken to an undisclosed Revolutionary headquarters for questioning and had been brought back paralyzed from the waist down. He had died a short time later in a hospital and his body had been unloaded in front of the family home one night after midnight. An obliging revolu-tioneer confided to Jim's Mother Maria on the way home from the cemetery that she and the children were not safe in Fras Village, and that it would be best if they left immediately. With very few family possessions they soon sadly departed for the city of Cherson where they would settle for a time.
What was in store for the suddenly
homeless Fras family would prove to be filled with hunger and unfamiliar
poverty brought on by the after effects of the Russian Revolution.
Practicing any faith
of choice was condemned and severely punished. It was the strength
which Mother Maria passed on to her children which helped them all
to continue to survive.
In Memory
Of Jim W. Fras
May 15,
1925 - September 9, 2002
The love of the sea got into Jim's blood during his youth where he was exposed to
the waters of the Russian Black
Sea . Somehow he passed that love instinct on. The white beaches along the
Gulf of Mexico have drawn Jim and family to relaxation on numerous occasions.
 
* Photo Gallery Hint - right
click and choose "Go Full Screen" - makes it easier to read some of the
newspaper articles. ESC to exit Full Screen
* click on the musical notes below for press notices
Irene Fras 82, Fairmont, formerly of
Lincoln, died Tuesday (11/20/07). Born on July 7, 1925 in Poland.
(Lincoln Journal Star 11/22/2007) Irene's pages will be available SOON. She was very special in all portrayed on this site and will be missed dearly. 
 Click
Here
Jim Fras
was a Russian refugee that came to
America
in 1952 under the Marshall Plan. He was a professional musician, entertainer and Composer of the official Nebraska State Song Beautiful Nebraska. This site is dedicated to his memory. Explore the hard times, the good times, his love of Nebraska and his freedom as an extremely proud citizen of the United States of America. |
