Bessie E. Frith

Bessie Eleanor Baker Frith Galvan, 84, passed away peacefully on December 14, 2021.



Funeral services will be 10:30 AM Wednesday, December 22, 2021, at Apfel Funeral Home in Grand Island with Chaplain Jay Towel officiating. Burial will follow in the Grand Island City Cemetery. Visitation will be an hour prior to the start of the services. Memorials are suggested to the Charles and Bessie Frith Scholarship Fund at the GIPS Foundation.



Bessie was born on January 24, 1937, to Hugh L Baker and Letha M (Holder) Baker. She went down the road to Stolley Park Elementary School for Kindergarten through eighth grade. She was in the last Grand Island High School graduating class out of the “old Walnut” in 1955.

Largely because it was a “teacher’s college,” Bessie attended Kearney State Teachers College, now UNK. After two years she received her certificate to teach elementary school. She taught at West Lawn Elementary School in Grand Island for one year and then returned to Kearney and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1960. She would later go on and earn her master’s degree in education.

In Grand Island, Bessie taught at several elementary schools—Starr/Stolley Park, West Lawn and Wasmer and was principal at Howard for 18 years. Her career totaled 38 years in the Grand Island school system. Bessie was active in the Grand Island chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa, sorority for educators.

Bessie was a life-long member of First Christian Church where she sang in the choir for decades.

Bessie met Chuck Frith in 1963 through a mutual friend, Margaret Fairchild. Chuck and Bessie married on November 28, 1964, in Grand Island. For most of their married life the couple lived in the David Lake area. They enjoyed hosting parties for holidays and many other occasions. Everyone felt welcomed in their home.

Bessie retired in 1997 and then spent many years involved with the Junior Achievement organization in Grand Island.

Chuck died in 2010. In 2017, Bessie met Jahaquin “Bob” Galvan through mutual friends. They married on April 28, 2018. Bob died in January 2021.

Bessie is survived by her sister, Janis (Jack) Westeroff; niece, Arla (Louie) Hansen and several other cousins.

She was preceded in death by her parents and both husbands.