Established on 04.22.2022 by Jeremy, Anna, and Sawyer Frie
Heidi Lee Frie was born on September 25, 1971, in Woodstock, IL to Gary and Teri Hedman. She was raised in the suburbs of Chicago, IL, and made the MN/ND area home in her late teenage years, eventually settling in the wonderful community of Horace. She graduated from high school in Kennedy, MN. Heidi was united in marriage to Jeremy Frie on June 3, 1995, and began their lives together in Fargo, ND.
Heidi earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of MN-Morris and her master's degree in counseling from MN State University, Moorhead. Heidi dedicated her entire professional career to helping people. She worked at Concordia College in Moorhead as the Director of the Academic Enhancement Writing Center, as a counselor at North Dakota State University, as a case manager at Southeast Human Service Center, and as the Intensive In-Home Family Therapist for Norman County in Ada, MN. Heidi also worked as the Director and Volunteer Coordinator at FirstLink where she was instrumental with volunteer coordination efforts during the flood of 1997 in Fargo.
Heidi had a love for gardening, spending time at the lake, quilting, and all things associated with spending time with her children, Anna and Sawyer, and their numerous activities. Heidi loved everything dealing with nature and taught her children to appreciate simple things and not to take them for granted. If there was a chance to see the northern lights, a shooting star, or a meteor shower, you could count on Heidi waking the kids in the middle of the night to go outside and take a peek. She rarely missed an opportunity to show her family her love for things like that. Heidi was the best at taking time out of her busy schedule to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of life.
Because of Heidi’s passion for helping college students improve and reach their goals, Heidi and Jeremy established the Heidi Frie Memorial Student Success Award at Concordia College during the fall of 2016. It was a unique award because it recognized progress in students instead of just academic achievements. Due to the incredible outpouring of gifts to the restricted fund, the Frie family has decided to transfer these restricted gifts and establish a permanent endowment at Concordia which will honor Heidi’s legacy and impact students into perpetuity.
The Heidi Frie Student Success Endowed Fund is awarded to one or more students who demonstrate academic progress during their first academic year, show excellent potential/promise as a student and have a strong likelihood of completing their degree program(s) at Concordia. This award honors the students' hard work and encourages them to continue to pursue academic excellence.