Aaron Fritz Biography

Aaron Fritz
November 25, 1934 ~ May 24, 2013
Aaron Fritz passed away May 24, 2013 at Kindred Hospital in San Antonio. 

Aaron was born Nov. 25, 1934 in Fredericksburg, Texas. He was the son of Edmund Fritz and Anna Behrends Fritz. He was an active member of Cherry Mountain School and a member of St. Mary’s Church. Aaron grew up on a farm and ranch and attended school at Cherry Mountain School and St. Mary’s Catholic School. On Oct. 12, 1957, he married Evelyn Riba from Stonewall.

In the early 50’s, Aaron worked with an out-of-town construction company. He then became employed by True Value and worked on small engines. He later worked for Elle Kramer doing tractor repair and Benno Wise, working with irrigation and pump repair. In the 60’s he opened his own welding shop. In the 70’s he started his own heavy equipment construction company and later ran it with his sons.

Some of his contributions to his home town were to help put down concrete on the first phase of the original Hill Country Memorial Hospital. At Community Savings and Loan, now called BVVA Compass Bank, he did the welding and concrete work.

In Kerrville, he did the demolition work on the Blue Bonnet Hotel and the Old Schreiner Bank, where now the main bank for Bank of America and the Schreiner One Center now stands on Water Street.

He also helped pour the concrete for the now Chase Bank where he left his mark by throwing change into the concrete when it was being poured. He told his wife, Evelyn, that way he would always have money in that bank!

Aaron did many things, anything from land clearing, demolition, dams, State Highway Work, Ranch Roads, and a little of everything else that helped make a living.

In the early 2000’s Aaron tried to start retiring and started farming and ranching full time. He loved his deer, cattle, sheep, plowing the fields, hunting and fishing. The one constant thing that he needed though was to have his wife, Evelyn, by his side helping or watching, that was when he was the happiest.

In September of 2012, Aaron was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was willing to fight every step of the way to try and beat this disease.  He took chemo and had a great response. After the first three treatments, the tumor was half the size. They later added radiation treatments, in addition to the chemo treatments. In the end, Aaron was cancer free. But his body had been worn down with all the treatments, and complications set in with inflammation. His body did not respond to the steroids. He was not ready to go, but God thought he had fought long enough. He will be greatly missed.

Aaron is survived by: his wife, Evelyn Riba Fritz; three sons and spouses: Kevin and Susan Fritz, Quinn and Kimberly Fritz, and Darin Fritz, all of Fredericksburg; four grandchildren:  Karin Fritz, Kody and Keli Fritz, Katie Fritz, and Colton Fritz; one step-great-grandchild, Jillian, and extended family Zeferino Suarez, Janell Stevens-Allison, Scott Stevens, Brady Allison; one sister, Dortha Fae, Mrs. Rudy Staudt, and two nieces, Glenda and Mike George, Renee and Carl Scott, and one nephew, Sherwin Staudt, and six great-nieces and nephews.

Visitation and a rosary service were held Monday evening, May 27, at Schaetter Funeral Home.

A funeral mass was celebrated Tuesday, May 28, at 10 a.m., at St. Mary’s Catholic Church with Msgr. Enda McKenna officiating. Mary Ann Murchison was the pianist; Donna Durst, the vocalist and Colton Fritz, the scripture reader.

Graveside services and interment followed in the St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery.

Pallbearers included Colton Fritz, Kody Fritz, Zeferino Suarez, Gary Jost, John Cox, Mark Land, Anthony Rode and Mike George.

Honorary pallbearers were Carol Walker, Scott Stevens and Brady Allison.

Memorials may be made to Cherry Mountain School, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Gillespie County 4-H, Fredericksburg FFA, or to the charity of choice.

Expressions of sympathy may be sent towww.schaetter.com.

Arrangements were under the direction of Schaetter Funeral Home.

Lance Berkman provides help for the City of West

ARLINGTON -- When the fertilizer plant explosion rocked the City of West, Rangers designated hitter Lance Berkman wanted to help out.

Three fire trucks were destroyed, so when someone suggested donating a fire truck, Berkman made it happen.

"The main thing is just to get them something they can use," Berkman said. "The fact that they put my name and number on it, I guess, is just an additional bonus."

Two of the lost trucks have already been replaced, so Berkman's generosity brings the city back to full strength. The Arlington Fire Department knew where to find a truck that fit the need.

"We found this one - got it here - restoring it in one of our stations and we're donating some equipment that we have," said Battalion Chief of Arlington Fire Rescue Bill McQuatters. "The crews have been cleaning it up, polishing it and stuff, and getting it ready to go."

Last year, Nelson Cruz donated a fire truck to his hometown in the Dominican Republic. Now, the City of West is getting help from Lance Berkman. It's a town that's close to his heart, since he was born 20 miles down the road in Waco.

"Certainly when it hits close to home like that, it has an even greater impact, so it’s something that I’m blessed to be able to do and be in a position to be able to do things like this to help people," Berkman said.

"Fortunately we make a pretty good living playing the game of baseball, so we have the ability to help out," said Rangers outfielder David Murphy. "We have an unselfish bunch of guys that are willing to help in the community."

"Impressive," said Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels. "I actually didn't realize he had grown up down there. It's a pretty neat deal for him to reach out to the community."

The truck still needs water hoses to be fully operational, an addition that Berkman says he'll take care of.

It'll be given to the City of West during pregame ceremonies Saturday night.

95 Year old Orville Rogers is setting world records

DALLAS -- Orville Rogers took up running 45 years ago and today, at the age of 95, he's still going.

"It keeps me going and I always feel very tired afterward, but I feel good," Rogers said. He started running right after he read the first of Dr. Kenneth Coopers' 23 books, "Aerobics."

"It inspired me so much, I started running the very next day," Rogers said. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Today, he has logged nearly 40,000 miles and counting. "We consider him 'Cooperized,'" Dr. Cooper said. "That's eight different steps that we're promoting around the world to try to get people improve the quality of their lives, and he's my star example of that."

"Interestingly, I'm coming up on the total number of miles that will equal the number of flight hours that I had -- 49,000," Rogers said.

He was a pilot for Braniff Airways and served in World War II and the Korean War. "I was flying out of Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth - the B-36 - then the largest airplane in the world," Rogers said.

Five years ago, when he turned 90, Rogers realized he had the physical ability to break world records for his age group.

Today, his world records have reached double-digits, including a 400-meter time of 2:17, set two weeks ago. "I have 10 total [records,]" he said. "Two weeks ago, I broke the 400-meter world record at Coppell in a regional track meet, and back in March, I set six new world records in my age group, 95-to-99 [years old]." And all of that after a sextuplet bypass operation 20 years ago.

"So many people don't wear out, they rust out," Dr. Cooper said. "And he's proving the contrary -- if you keep exercising, you can achieve phenomenal records."

In the meantime, Rogers' next track meet is two-and-a-half weeks away, and who knows what records he'll break then. "I say you don't give up running because you got old, you got old because you stopped running," he said.