CONTRIBUTED PHOTO The late Ray Frederick with one of his paintings. The World War II veteran and retired Marshalltown Community College Art Professor died Sept. 28 in Cedar Falls at age 92.

The late artist Ray Frederick left a legacy which will be appreciated by artists, art educators and those touched by his art.

Frederick, 92, died Sept. 28 in Cedar Falls.

Frederick gained recognition not only through his art, but also by his work as an art educator. He taught in Harlan, at junior high and high school in the Marshalltown Community School District, and lastly at Marshalltown Community College.

He was a member of the art faculty at MCC from 1953 to 1986.

His influence on fellow educators and students was such that MCC directors and administrators thought it fitting a gallery be named in his honor.

It opened 32 years ago on the MCC campus where it remains.

“My career as an art educator was an incredible journey through my life, and the lives of my students, Frederick said. “I moved to Marshalltown in the early 1950s after accepting a teaching job in the junior high school. While there, a handful of students showed much appreciation for art, and we began to develop a friendship. If my memory is accurate, the building in which I was housed offered courses to students in junior and senior high, as well as the community college. Eventually I had the unique opportunity to teach for all three. Those same students enrolled for more art courses at each level, and our friendship continued to grow. Being an educator allowed me to affect the lives of countless students. Once I was teaching at the college, students often came over to my house to socialize. On occasion, we even took spur-of-the-moment trips to the Chicago Art Institute. I had the unique opportunity to interact with my students on a deep, personal level helping them explore their emotions and dreams. That small group of students I first met at the junior high became my lifelong friends.”

Frederick, a Cedar Rapids native, said his career at MCC played a large part in the teaching, personal and professional aspects of his life.

“I remember him as a humble, caring, gentle man, MCC Art Professor Tim Castle said. “I continue to receive phone calls from all over the country, east coast, west coast, and so on, from people who have his work and want to know more about him, or they would like to acquire one of his paintings. He was generous in viewing and giving attention to the work of younger artists and students. He would look deeply into their artwork and really study what he was seeing – I admired that, and so did those young artists.”

Outside of the classroom Frederick had a distinguished career as a professional artist.

His art hung in the Washington D.C. office of former Iowa and U.S. Sen. Dick Clark, and at U.S. embassies in Bolivia, Bulgaria, Germany, Japan and Saudi Arabia.

Memorial services for Frederick will be 11 a.m. Saturday at First United Methodist Church in Cedar Falls. Inurnment will be at Fairview Cemetery in Cedar Falls.

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Contact Mike Donahey at

641-753-6611 or

mdonahey@timesrepublican.com