sedona legend helen frye

"The Parting"

Jack Frye Files Divorce Suit

Prescott, Arizona, May 31, 1950
Jack Frye, former president of Trans World Airlines, Inc., filed a divorce suit today against his wife, Helen, who is the former wife of Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. The suit charged cruelty. It said that the Fryes were married January 1, 1941, and had reached a property settlement. Mr. Frye is the president of General Aniline and Film Corporation. Mrs. Frye operates a ranch near Sedona, Ariz.

June 1,, 1950

Associated Press Reporters interview Helen Frye about her pending divorce from Jack Frye, famous executive and pioneer aviator.

How can one say with politeness and decorum what happened between Helen and Jack in the end? One must consider that Jack remarried, and the final union produced a daughter that is still living. Therefore the story must be conveyed as delicately as possible so as not to offend his "new" family of which came after Helen.

Jack Frye was a dynamic personality, the youngest airline president in aviation history. One of the most successful businessmen in the country. This position entailed a lot of entertaining and mixing in social settings. Overwhelmingly so, for Helen and Jack, thus creating an atmosphere in their marriage that limited privacy, and "time alone." Helen was a lady, and I emphasize a "lady" in every sense of the word. She was the perfect social companion for Jack Frye, complimenting his image in the best possible way. Jack and Helen were "Mr. and Mrs. TWA" during the time they were married. Their marriage lasted nearly 10 years, pretty remarkable for the jet-set-crowd they mixed with. They did not socialize in an environment where people stayed together for the rest of their lives. This perhaps is unfortunate, but it is the times of which they lived. A very popular movie portrays the era in which Jack and Helen lived, it was called: "The Women". The time period and the circumstances portrayed in this movie are vaguely similar to Jack and Helen's whirlwind life. Of course Helen would be associated with Mary Haines.

When Jack Frye felt he should resign from TWA because of Howard Hughes, he almost immediately took over the helm of the General Aniline and Film Corporation in Washington D.C. as president and C.E.O. This position offered he and Helen a very good income. However, Jack no longer had the resources of TWA at his fingertips, his life with Helen and Sedona was altered. As president of TWA, Jack had many offices, this with access to one of the largest airliner fleets in the world, enabled the Fryes to live almost anywhere. It was no longer practical for Jack to spend as much time at Smoke Trail Ranch in Sedona, certainly he could not live there as Helen desired. Jack Frye came to Helen and asked her to please move to New York City. "Here we will have a wonderful life together", he conveyed, "and be close to many of our friends". Helen was torn, understandably so. She adored Jack and loved him as she had loved no other man. But, she loved Sedona too, she loved their ranch. It was in the red rock country that she wanted to spend the rest of her life, with Jack. There was no money in Sedona, and Jack and Helen lived a very opulent life. This income would not be adequately derived from the red rock country. Helen was not ready to move back to the glamour and harried life of entertaining in New York City. Jack had no choices, with a heavy heart he flew back to New York City. He and Helen continued to try to maintain 5 residences, but it was very costly and time consuming. Would it be a stretch to say that Howard Hughes destroyed Jack's career with TWA, and Jack and Helen's marriage as well? I think not. Let's call it the cascade effect.

Now we bring into the equation another element, Jack was quite a popular commodity. He was wined and dined by some of the most affluent and successful people in the world. This was inescapable for a man in his position. He was as well, chased after by beautiful women, something that did not escape Helen's attention. Jack himself had an eye for glamorous and lovely women so he was not entirely innocent himself either. Helen dealt with it all like a lady, in the best way she could.

Helen on the other hand was a deep and spiritually aware person, and not in the traditional religious way, mind you. She was deeply reflective, and valued the inner peace that our creator bestows within us all. She found Sedona to be a conducive environment for her own inner-self. Jack also found Sedona to be an escape from his hectic life: restorative and healing. He was happiest when he was at Smoke Trail Ranch. He loved the red rock country. However his life was not his own to enjoy. He owed all of his time to the TWA shareholders, and later Aniline Film Corporation. Jack Frye lived his life caught up in a never-ending-whirlwind of engagements and corporate responsibilities. His times at Smoke Trail Ranch were often stolen moments, limited blocks of time that were not easily arranged. In the meantime when Helen was not entertaining for TWA, managing their numerous properties, and dealing with all the other aspects of their hectic lives, she would try to get out to Arizona to their ranch for rejuvenation and reflection. She longed for Jack to share those times with her and he yearned to as well, but life is often times rather unfair. Helen came to resent the times she had to sacrifice her every need, giving up her privacy and intimacy with her husband. Playing the role of the president's wife was trying for her, even though she played the role flawlessly, never complaining or faltering. However, did she perhaps make a choice to spend times in Sedona when she could have been at Jack's side in New York? One will never know for sure. But one must assume that to hold onto a man, one must never leave him to empty hotel rooms, or to be escorted to parties by strange women with motives that would not benefit his wife.

It was on one of these occasions when Jack was in New York. He was at a nightclub having dinner when he met the most entrancing creature. She was a lovely woman with looks like Lana Turner, a Broadway actress and a model. Unfortunately, the dye was cast at that moment and Jack and Helen's life path together was nearing a fork in the road. Helen at first was totally oblivious to this younger woman. Later as things turned out, it is obvious that she found she couldn't compete with this new "stranger" who had intruded into their lives. And in her heart of hearts one must assume, she felt it was perhaps best to give Jack up. She and Jack would always love each other this she knew, just not in the same way. Helen knew to really love someone you must know when to set them free. She must do so with Jack.

Back then there were no "community property" laws like there are today. However, Jack was an honorable man. He loved Helen and wanted to make sure she was well taken care of. Of course, Helen desired Smoke Trail Ranch. The other properties she and Jack shared were just not "home" to her. However, the ranch was different, it was her and Jack's dream, their utopia. This understandably tore Jack apart as he loved Smoke Trail Ranch and Sedona too. He knew that if he let Helen have it, he would likely never set foot on it again. So painfully he gave her the one consolation he could offer her, even though he knew she really wanted him and the ranch. The divorce was finalized and they were both free to move on with their lives, tragically though, without each other.

Footnote.......................
The Jack Frye vs Helen V. Frye divorce decree on public file at Yavapai County Court House, reveals Jack was extremely generous with Helen, as was his nature his entire life. Their decree specifies, and I quote: "a 50-50 property settlement".

Jack gave Helen the "Oak Creek" property as defined in the divorce decree. Helen was also to receive an additional 160 acres of property adjoining the Smoke Trail Ranch called the "Cliff Site". This parcel was pending a Forest Service land trade with her and Jack's Sunshine Ranch in Sunshine, AZ. This ranch is now called the "Red Gap Ranch", 40 miles east of Flagstaff near Meteor City. Jack was to pay all expenses when the trade was finalized. The parcel was on the north side of Smoke Trail Ranch. Helen was to transport two head of cattle to their Spring Valley ranch which Jack retained. Upon delivery Jack was to pay her the fair market value of $450.00 for the cattle. Helen was given 1/2 interest in all mineral rights at Sunshine Ranch. This included legal access to the "Sunshine Ranch" in order to continue to remove flagstone for the construction of the Apache Fires house. There was yet another ranch near Spring Valley up toward the Grand Canyon, below Valle, Arizona, and above Parks. It's obvious Jack was trying to make it easier for Helen to complete the House of Apache Fires. Also specified in the decree was the amount of Helen's alimony, which was VERY generous at $1200.00 a month for 4 years, plus 10 percent of Jack's salary and dividends until she was to remarry. If Helen ever desired to sell, Jack had the option to buy back the "House of Apache Fires," within 10 days. It was not clear if this meant the entire ranch as well. Jack was to pay Helen an equal amount to whatever offer she might consider. This reference makes it clear how grieved Jack was having to let his dream house and ranch go and his desire to buy it back someday. The other details aren't important, however the painting exchange is. Helen retained a Leigh painting, namely William Robinson Leigh, the famous southwestern artist. Jack retained the Mountfort portraits, executed by the famous European- Hollywood portrait artist Sir Arnold G. Mountfort. One of these is the same portrait of Helen that at one time hung in Jack's Washington D.C. Office, as seen in a Fortune Magazine article. The second portrait was of Helen. If Jack remarried he was to return the portraits. (Helen eventually received the portraits, as Jack did remarry immediately).

It is clear perusing the 20 pages or so that Jack tried to be as gracious and fair as he could. Helen was certainly not left penniless. One must assume she also had her own personal holdings from her marriage to Vanderbilt. The only flaw in Helen's desire to retain Smoke Trail Ranch was thus: the ranch was not profitable. Jack was always concerned that the Smoke Trail Ranch did not pay for itself and produce much revenue. The ranch was always a money-pit for him. A very scenic and valuable property, but a financial drain. Jack tried to keep cattle on the ranch, but it was detrimental to the terrain and not productive enough. The ranch was just no good as a working ranch. All of Jack's other ranches were profitable. Helen without the monetary strength of her husband, ended up land rich and cash poor. This was a dilemma for Helen for many years until she realized that the land's value was in its careful development. Eventually Sedona boomed, only then did she reap the full potential of her and Jack's divorce settlement: millions upon millions of dollars. It must be noted, if the ranch had been kept entirely intact all through the years, it would now be worth as much as 300 million dollars.

The reason for the divorce? Per the newspapers: "Cruelty", a general overused legal-term. Such terms usually have nothing to do with the real reason a divorce is granted. According to the official Divorce Decree however, the reason was, and I quote: "Certain unfortunate, unhappy conditions arising in their marital relations". This is much closer to the truth.

So what was the real reason they divorced? All the following is documented through interviews with Helen and Jack's most intimate friends:

Jack and Helen grew apart, this is true. Jack's work kept him and Helen apart for weeks at a time. There was also another woman at the end. However, there was another reason as well. Jack and Helen both wanted Jack to have an heir. What? Yes, Jack wanted very badly to have a child and heir, Helen also wanted this for him deeply. She believed because he came from such a staunch pioneer Texas cattle ranching family, and in regard to his aviation legacy, he needed to pass this remarkable heritage on to his own flesh and blood. Helen tragically could not give him a child. One Frye intimate states she and Jack tried three times to have a child, but each time Helen miscarried on the third month. Another Frye friend has said Helen could not get pregnant at all. As a child, Helen contracted Undulant Fever, this was said to be a reason, another reason, Helen once said, was complications with an earlier preganancy when she was young. Even so, Helen loved children and yearned for Jack to have a child of his own blood. This is exactly and for no other reason, why they did not adopt. According to two of Jack and Helen's most intimate friends, this is one of the reasons Helen felt she must let Jack go.

So you see the divorce was heart wrenching to say the least, more devastating to both of these two lovers, than anyone could ever possibly comprehend. Jack and Helen parted, he married a younger woman and shortly a child and heir was born. Helen was happy for that and her desire that Jack have a child was accomplished. Bittersweet victory, but at what cost, one might ponder? To Helen love meant sacrificing her own needs for the needs of Jack. A companion for his lonely nights and a child to carry on his proud name. Helen Frye was a rare and remarkable woman, such a beautiful and selfless act, generous and empathetic. She and Jack shared a love that went deeper than most, this is apparent, a marriage that was way ahead of it's time.

A very sad ending though to a glamorous romance and exciting life together. Jack Frye was a man Helen Varner Vanderbilt Frye always said was the true love of her life. Two people walk away from a shattered dream, but their love remained. A promise of companionship and commitment had ended.
Ahhhh...........such is love........such is love......

Footnote

Was this really the end? Thankfully not. In the mid 1950's a few years before Jack tragically died, the relationship with his new wife had long since cooled. He found himself in the Red Rock Country the land he loved, and at Smoke Trail Ranch with Helen the woman he adored. Their love had a chance to be rekindled, renewing a companionship they had once shared. Helen welcomed him and his beautiful new daughter and they discussed what future they might share together. However, she demanded he finalize his divorce first.

Life can be so unfair however as fate intervened, and Jack was killed suddenly by a drunk driver in Tucson. He was snatched away from Helen forever.

With unfathomable heartbreak.....Helen Frye was left all alone and inconsolable for the second time...... I was over.

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