Icecream Journal

The following is an excerpt from our official history book, Turkey Hill: A Family Vision. To purchase your own copy, visit our online store.

Armor Frey, founder of Turkey Hill Dairy, was born in 1896. As a testament to his parents, Fred and Alice, he was a man of strong convictions. His sentiments not only shaped how he farmed, but also how he treated his employees. Such a spirit was evident in 1931 when he started bottling and selling milk to support not only his family and farm, but also his hired men.

Armor did not consider himself a businessman. He was a farmer who worked hard and, as time allowed, played hard too. He enjoyed having fun with his family as well as his employees. They often played baseball in the meadow during noontime breaks and had water battles at the end of the long hot day’s work. Armor loved to be outdoors, be it working in the fields, fishing in the pond, or hunting.

He and his wife, Mary, had seven children: Glenn, Emerson, Paultine, Charles, Lillian, Jay, and Eunice. Armor was the spiritual head of his family and always took them to church on the Sabbath. To make it easier on the children, Armor carried a pocketful of wintergreen candy with him. At the end of the service, when the adults joined in conversation, he passed out candy to the children as they waited patiently.

On the day Armor died in 1969, he worked all day picking corn from the field. When he sat down to rest, he said he was tired and went to bed. He passed away that night in his sleep at the age of 73, leaving behind a legacy of faith and a caring spirit. Through hard work, he also left behind his business, which is still proudly called Turkey Hill Dairy.