Clyde R. Frizell

Clyde R. Frizell, 92, of Greenfield, died Feb. 8, 2024, at the Greenfield Rehabilitation & Health Care Center in Greenfield.

A joint family visitation for brothers, Clyde and Larry Frizell, will be held from 3-6 p.m., Saturday, March 23 at the Lamb Funeral Home in Greenfield. The Lamb Funeral Home in Greenfield is in charge of the professional arrangements.

Memorials may be made to the family to be established at a later date. Online condolences may be left to the family at www.lambfuneralhomes.com.

Clyde Richard Frizell was born Feb. 12, 1931, the third child of Elmer and Gladys (Gile) Frizell in rural Greenfield, he joined two brothers at home. Two more brothers and one sister followed his birth, prompting plenty of his tongue-in-cheek observations on the woes of being a middle child, and being unable to get his own birthday as he was born the same day as Clare. He went to country school through eighth grade, then entered Greenfield High School the first year they implemented school buses, graduating with the class of 1949.

He worked on the family farm until he was drafted into the Army in 1952. The Korean War was going on, so after basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, he was sent to Fort Riley for infantry training and then shipped to Japan from Fort Lewis. He went to Japan for medic training but amazingly never used it and was sent to the motor pool instead. After the war ended, Clyde returned home to the farm, but only briefly.

In 1956, Clyde went to U. S. Trade Schools, Inc. in Kansas City, Missouri, for diesel mechanic training, but didn’t finish. He instead went to work. Some jobs included working for Charlie Grant’s crew sealing coated roads in Iowa, often staying in places he generally referred to as “bat hotels,” McDonnell Aircraft Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri, and Fisher Body Plant in Raytown, Missouri.

He wemt back to Greenfield and bought into Lahey Implement with Jim Lahey, to form Lahey-Frizell Implement. In 1965, his brother, Ivan, came back to Greenfield, and they formed Greenfield Honda. Small motorcycles were soon seen and heard buzzing around Greenfield. One of those riders was Dick Van Dyke, in town filming “Cold Turkey,” who bought a motorcycle to keep up with all the kids on cycles. Greenfield Honda was a very successful business, as Ivan and Clyde caught baby boomers at the beginning of their cycle riding careers, taking them from trail bikes on up to Gold Wings and bigger.

Clyde and Ivan closed the business in 1996, and Clyde then devoted himself to full-time farming. He and brother Keith also found time to take many road trips to tractor auctions and shows around the state. It was nothing to travel to Albert City, Minnesota, with Keith just to look at farm equipment.

Clyde had an amazing memory for family history, was an extremely talented mechanic, and was a great uncle to his nieces and nephews. He was the “go-to guy” for knowledge and history of Adair County and for anything mechanical.

He is survived by one sister, Mary McInroy of Iowa City: a sister-in-law, Isolde Frizell of Greenfield, his nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers: Keith, Clare, Ivan, Larry and infant Dallas and sister-in-law, Pearl.