Sad News

< want to make sure you know that my beloved wife Kathy Frost passed away this afternoon.  We are blessed to have so many wonderful friends and will be forever grateful for your support and prayers.

-Martin


Kathryn George Frost
1948 - 2006

 Major General (ret.) Kathryn George Frost, 57, of Latta, S.C., died August 18, 2006 following a four year battle with breast cancer.  At the time of her retirement in April of 2005, Frost was the senior woman on active duty in the U.S. Army.

A native of Dillon County, S.C., Frost grew up in Latta where she was valedictorian of her Latta High School class in 1967.  She was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of South Carolina in1970 and later earned a Masters in Counseling degree from Wayne State University in Michigan while on active duty in the Army.

Frost entered the Army with a direct commission in 1974 and served with great distinction for the next 31 years.  Her final assignment was as Commander of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), an $8 billion retail entity with 48,000 employees worldwide.  As Commander of AAFES, she was responsible for establishing post exchanges (PX’s) and base exchanges (BX’s) in both Afghanistan and Iraq.  Under her leadership, AAFES received a special award from the National Retail Federation for its work in these two war zones.

rior to serving as commander of AAFES, Frost served four years as the Adjutant General of the Army and as Commander of the Eastern Sector of the Military Entrance Processing Command. Her other assignments included two tours in Berlin, Germany, work on the staff of Gen. Colin Powell when he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and assignment as a White House Social Aide during the Reagan and first Bush presidencies.

Frost excelled at everything she attempted.  She was first in her WAC (Women’s Army Corps) basic course and first in her WAC advanced training course.  The WACs were merged into the regular Army a year after Frost entered active duty. She was recognized as “South Carolina Woman of Distinction” at the 2005 Miss South Carolina Pageant, a proud moment for Frost who had been runner-up for “Miss Latta” as a teenager.

She met her husband, former U.S. Congressman Martin Frost (D-TX), when she was assigned to his district in 1996 as Deputy Commander of AAFES, which is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.  They were married in August of 1998 in the prayer room of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, DC., in a ceremony presided over by the Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Frost and her husband moved back to Latta earlier this summer when they purchased the house where she grew up.  She was a member of the Latta United Methodist Church.

She was the daughter of the late Gerry George and the late Dorothy Jean George.

Frost is survived by her husband, Martin, her sister Gwen Strickland, her brother-in-law Frank Strickland, and her nephew, George Strickland, all of Marion, three step-daughters, Alanna Bach of El Paso, Texas, Mariel Sala of Fort Worth, Texas, and Camille Frost of Santa Fe, New Mexico and three step-granddaughters, Helaine, Simona and Esther Bach all of El Paso and numerous cousins.

Burial will be in Arlington National Cemetery following a memorial service at the Latta United Methodist Church.  The family requests that expressions of sympathy be made in the form of contributions to the Latta United Methodist Church or Latta High School.