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Sletten Cancer Institute Healing Garden Named for Ray and Helen Fretz
Ray and Helen Fretz left an enormous legacy in so many ways – from the fortune they left to help others, to all the lives they touched.
To forever memorialize this generous couple who bequeathed $2.1 million to support cancer care, the Benefis Sletten Cancer Institute Healing Garden bears their names.
“They were just a really nice couple," said Adeline Topel, a friend and neighbor for 31 years. "They didn’t have children but they spent a lot of time with my kids. We all have great memories of Ray and Helen.”
Helen worked as a teacher in Conrad and Livingston before marrying Ray in 1927. In the early 1950s, she began creating illuminated manuscripts and donated most of her artwork to the Great Falls Public Library.
Ray began his career as a banker in Conrad. He then spent the next 15 years as an accountant in Great Falls before opening his own business.
Most of their married life was spent living quietly at 1405 2nd Avenue North in Great Falls. Ray died in 1978. Helen continued to live in the same home until she moved to Park Place Nursing Home in the late 1980s. Helen died in 1998.
Adeline said they lived very modestly and never felt the need to replace appliances or furnishings.
"Helen’s house looked the same all those years," she said. "Material things just didn’t matter to them.”
Ray and Helen amassed a fortune, with much of it being left to Benefis Healthcare Foundation to help improve cancer care in Great Falls. Their generous legacy was specifically able to support Sletten Cancer Institute.
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