Kristen Nicole (Frizzell) Antley, died on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. A celebration of her life will be held at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church on Sunday, April 27, 2025 at 3pm with a visitation immediately following in the gym.
Kristen was born on December 22, 1981 in Chattanooga, TN to Terry and Ann Frizzell. She was their only child, their pride and joy. She was brought home from the hospital on Christmas day; the greatest Christmas present they ever received. From a very early age she loved animals and the outdoors. She especially loved going on nature walks with her father to find bugs and other treasures out in the forest around their home. Kristen also loved being a girly girl, dressing up and wearing her clapping shoes. She and her mother shared a love for shopping and people watching. They loved spending time together, especially when they could go “scooter pootin” around town. Kristen was also an athlete, playing basketball and volleyball throughout her childhood and early teen years.
The family would move to North Augusta, SC in 1989. She attended Paul Knox Middle School and then North Augusta High School, where she graduated in 2000. She then matriculated to Clemson University where she was a proud member of the Clemson University Tiger Band, playing the alto saxophone. She was also a part of Kappa Kappa Psi, where she joined her fraternity sisters and brothers in helping to support and undergird the activities of Tiger Band. It was during this time that she met and began a blooming relationship with her future husband, as they were both Tiger Band members. Kristen successfully completed her degree requirements and graduated from Clemson University in May 2005 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Parks and Recreation Tourism Management and a minor in Biological Sciences.
During her summers in college, Kristen completed a number of internships at the Greenville and Riverbanks Zoos. When she graduated college, she was hired at Jacksonville Zoo as one of their bird keepers. Before too long, she accepted a job opportunity closer to home at Riverbanks Zoo. She began her service at Riverbanks as a bird keeper but was soon promoted to the position of Primary Penguin Keeper. She adored her animals and loved to care for them in every way. She also loved to bring people behind the scenes and to give them an up-close encounter with Ricky the Rockhopper and the King Penguin, Scout. If you visit the Riverbanks Zoo even today, you may notice the bands of colored beads on the wings of the penguins. Kristen created these bands; a system she developed to identify and distinguish the penguins from one another.
Kristen then transitioned to an administrative specialist role at the Law School at the University of South Carolina. After serving there, she was accepted into, and successfully completed, her ultrasound degree and certification through Midlands Technical College. She was then hired at Lexington Medical Center, where she spent most of her career at both the main and Saluda Pointe campuses. She spent her last years at ImageCare of Northeast Columbia. At each of her places of employment, Kristen was known as a hard worker and someone who served her patients with the utmost care and professionalism.
Beyond her professional career, that budding relationship from Tiger Band blossomed into true love. Kristen got married to Jason Antley in the summer of 2007 and they would share the next 17 years together loving and supporting each other in all of life’s ups and downs. And the family grew with the addition of their twin girls, Carsyn and Peyton. Kristen was her best as a mother. She loved and was devoted to her girls with a voracious passion. There was nothing that made her happier than when she was with her girls. She provided for them in a way that was unmatched. She will be remembered by all who knew her for her elegance, her beauty, her beautiful spirit, and the way that she loved and supported her friends and family.
Kristen is survived by her husband, Rev. Jason Antley; twin daughters, Carsyn and Peyton Antley; parents, Terry and Ann Frizzell; grandmother, Carlene Templeton; aunts, Donna Cox (Charlie) of Soddy-Daisy, TN and Debra Templeton Payne of Sale Creek, TN; uncle, Jody Templeton (Pam) of Sale Creek, TN; father and mother-in-law, Rev. Barry and Debbie Antley of Graniteville, SC; sister-in-law, Jennifer Antley Storey of Warrenville, SC; brother-in-law, Joel Antley (Natalie) of Christiansburg, VA; niece, Makayla Storey; nephew, Walker Storey; and many cousins.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church (119 N Church Street, Lexington, SC 29072).
