December 31, 2003

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Alva, OK

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by Intellicast
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Local Poll

Do
you think the recently passed Medicare bill will be good or
bad for senior citizens?

Good

43%

Bad

39%

Mixed

11%

Not
Sure

6%

Features

Local TV
Listings

The Whole = the Sum
of Its Parts

Family of Former Alvan
Featured in Magazine 12/28/03
By Helen Barrett

Photo
1

"We don't think of it as being that unique," former Alva
native Lex Frieden said by phone of his blended family. "I think
that's what families are all about -- helping one another out."

What makes the Lex Frieden family of national interest is the
fact that Lex and his wife Joyce, along with Mac Brodie, an extended
member of the "family," all have major disabilities.

But in this family, their combined abilities equal one whole,
complete family.

The Lex Frieden family's story is told in the January 2004
edition of Family Circle magazine.

"It was a good journalist from Dallas who wrote it," Lex said of
author William M. Hendryx. "It was a good experience. I've already
had lots of feedback from the article."

There may not be any copies of the magazine available in Alva
because Rialto Theatre owner Johnny Jones purchased all of the
magazines he could find to distribute to friends.

Lex, was born and raised in Alva, sang in the Alva Boys Choir,
attained the rank of Ea

Photo
2

gle Scout, attended the First
United Methodist Church and graduated valedictorian of his class,
according to long time friend Fred Neuman.

Lex's father worked for Zenith Gas Company which was purchased by
ONG, eventually resulting in the family's move to the Tulsa area.

While a freshman at Oklahoma State University, he and a carload
of pals were involved in a head-on collision where everyone walked
away with only minor injuries . . . except Lex.

His neck broken at the fifth vertebra left him with no use of his
lower body and only limited use of his arms.

"When he had his accident, we all went down to St. Anthony's
hospital to play Tripoli," Neuman said referring to a Boys Choir
tradition.

"We had a trip planned to Acapulco that summer and we took him
with us," Neuman recalls. "He got into the old station wagon, we
drove to Texas, got on an airplane and went to Acapulco."

It was when Lex applied for admission to Oral Roberts University
in Tulsa that he ran head-long into discrimination. Despite a
straight-A transcript, he was denied admittance.

"I was shattered," Lex says in the article. "Breaking my neck was
nothing compared to that. I cannot describe the sensation of being
discriminated against because of nothing more than a physical
characteristic."

Lex's father came to his rescue. Being acquainted with Harry
Carter, then dean of students at the University of Tulsa, the elder
Frieden arranged a meeting.

At the time, only one of the buildings had wheelchair access.
Carter immediately devised a solution to Lex's education problem.

"Just tell us what classes you want to take, and we'll hold them
in that building," Carter said.

Lex completed his education, became a professor of physical
medicine and rehabilitation at Baylor College of Medicine in
Houston, and is a senior vice president at TIRR, the rehab center
where he first received the therapy and skills necessary to continue
his life.

While living at an experimental housing annex sponsored by the
Institute for Rehabilitation and Research in Houston, Lex met Mac, a
resident in a nearby home for the mentally retarded.

Mac received a brain injury in the late 1960s when his Navy squad
encountered a land mine while on patrol in Vietnam. His injury
impaired his ability to think and make decisions and his memory.

Mac volunteered to assist residents where Lex lived and the two
established a bond immediately. Mac's mother suggested the two might
be able to live on their own if they pooled their abilities.

A couple of years later, Lex met his wife Joyce while both were
students at the University of Houston. The two were married in 1977
in front of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Joyce, a single mother, became paralyzed from the waist down by
encephalomeningiomyelitis. Joyce drives their specially equipped van
wherever the family needs to go. Mac serves as Lex's arms and legs,
while Lex functions as Mac's memory and decision maker.

Together the three function as a whole unit. Lex and Joyce have
become legal guardians for Joyce's 12-year-old grandson, Trey
O'Connor.

Largely as a result of Lex's efforts, the Americans with
Disabilities Act became law in 1990. As executive director of the
National Council on Disability, Lex and his staff developed the
proposal which prohibited discrimination against people with
disabilities in employment, public accommodations, transportation,
etc.

It's because of that bill that persons confined to wheelchairs
can easily access a restaurant, use a public restroom, attend church
or other public functions.

"I believe the impact of ADA has been profound," Lex says. "I
think a lot of people who have disabilities and their family members
have benefited from the opportunity to participate fully in life."

In the fall of 2002, President Bush named Lex chairman of the
National Council on Disability. Chief of Staff Andrew Card swore him
in at an Oval Office ceremony with the President, his wife, Joyce,
Mac and Trey as witnesses.

Lex says his "family" is a natural outgrowth of the values he
learned in Alva.

"There are a lot of really nice people in Alva," Lex said.
"People there help each other out, and are inclined to do that
naturally. I just acquired that sense of family from that
experience."

PHOTO 1: The Lex Frieden Family -- clockwise from left are
Melissa Cassel, daughter of Joyce Frieden, Mac Brodie, Lex and Joyce
Frieden and Trey O'Conner, the Frieden's grandson. Photo provided by
Lex Frieden

PHOTO 2: Lex Frieden, second from left on the next to top row,
sings with the Alva Boys Choir many years ago. Photo provided by
Fred Neuman

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