Benefit for Mike Friede set for Feb. 9

A benefit is set from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, at the Havre Eagles Club to help Mike Friede pay for his medical expenses.

"Come down and support our superhero in his fight against cancer," a flier advertising the event says.

Friede's daughter Shelby Fritchman said Wednesday that her father has struggled with cancer for a number of years and hides it well.

"He's superman to me," she said.

The event will have a free-will donation spaghetti dinner and a silent and live auction. Fritchman said many prizes have been donated, including, from Tom Patrick's Construction, and she welcomes people to come by and bid on items. Following the event Milk River Band will play live music starting at 8 p.m.

Fritchman added that if people have any items they would like to donate, they can contact her at 945-1526.

Friede was diagnosed May 27, 2016, with Stage 4 esophageal cancer, Fritchman said. She said that, since then, he has beaten the esophageal cancer but was later diagnosed with bladder cancer and three months ago was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer, which has also spread to his liver.

Every three months, Friede has go in to have another cancerous tumor removed and receives chemotherapy every three weeks.

Fritchman said her father is still working at Tom Patrick Construction, a job he has had for the past 25 years, working as the pump operator, although now he is starting to slow down because he is not able to work as much.

"It's getting a little taxing on him," she said.

He has a Goonies mentality, though, Fritchman said.

"He never says die," she said.

Friede and his wife, Sandra, will be at the event, she added, and it would great for him to get to see some of these people who haven't seen him lately and don't know that he has been fighting cancer since 2016.

Some of her favorite memories are of hunting and fishing with her dad, Fritchman said. She said that he was a good father and always took her and her siblings, adding that, no matter how old she was, he would always gut her deer for her.

Her favorite memories, though, are watching her father interact with her daughter, Lucy, 2, and her nephew, Jarvis, 3, she said. No matter how tired he is, he will always sit with them and read and play, she said.

"It's nice to see how much they love their grandpa," she said.

She said she and her family visit with her parents quite a bit, usually spending every Saturday morning having breakfast at either her house or her parents' house.

Her younger sister, Danielle, lives with their father and mother, Sandra, Fritchman said, adding that her sister runs a day care in her parent's house and is able to help out when her parents need it.

Fritchman also has an older brother, Dustin, Jarvis' father.

Along with her parents, she and her siblings will be at the event and will be joined by family coming from out of town, she said.

Fritchman said she is excited for her dad to see the amount of support he has.

"I don't think he realizes how many people are rooting for him," she said.

He doesn't think his battle with cancer is a big deal, Fritchman said - he brushes it off and thinks everything will be fine and doesn't know how important he is to his family.

An account for Friede also has been set up Bear Paw Credit Union where people can make a donation, all proceeds will go toward medical expenses, the flier says.