[2] After attending St. Vincent de Paul School, Frey studied at St. Joseph College Seminary in Saint Benedict, Louisiana, from 1928 to 1932.

[3][better source needed] He then served as a curate at Holy Rosary Parish in Taft, Louisiana, until 1946, when he became director of the archdiocesan Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

[1] Frey was named a papal chamberlain by Pope Pius XII in 1949, and was appointed pastor of St. Frances Cabrini Parish at New Orleans in 1952.

[3][better source needed] He received his episcopal consecration on August 8, 1967, from Archbishop Philip Hannan, with Bishops Charles Greco and Robert Tracy serving as co-consecrators.

[3][better source needed] During his tenure, he initiated reorganization plans that increased and expanded participation by clergy, religious, and laity in diocesan affairs.

[4] Frey was the bishop of Lafayette when the diocese and the Catholic Church faced the first wave of civil suits seeking compensation and treatment for abused children.

In a legal deposition, Frey admitted to confronting Gilbert Gauthe, a diocesan priest, about sexual abuse accusations in 1974.