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.

Deion Sanders in Pro Football Hall of Fame

DALLAS — Deion Sanders arrived at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Dallas after receiving the news about his induction in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.

At the time he was coaching a youth football game. "It's unbelievable," Sanders said on the NFL Network. "It's hard to describe the feeling. I'm one who never put an emphasis of what someone thought about me. To be held to a high regard and standard by your peers, and different sports writers around the count, I'm honored. I really am."

Sanders was one of two players who was voted in during his first year of eligibility. Running back Marshall Faulk was the second.

"We had a pretty good 90s," said Michael Irvin, who was inducted with the Class of 2007. "Some would say a very good 90s. It is a blessing to see some of the fruit from that hard labor."

"When you talk about shutdown corners, when you talk about somebody who can play man to man all over the field, I mean he's the kind of guy that would play man to man and take you all the way to the bathroom," said Ronnie Lott, a member of the Class of 2000.

Sanders was a cornerback, a kick and punt return specialist and a wide receiver. To this day, he remains the only man to have won both a Super Bowl ring and a World Series ring. Now the fun is just beginning.

"In terms of getting your bust and make sure that you have it the way you want it, you have to spend time with the guys," said Emmitt Smith, who was inducted with the Class of 2010. "He has to figure out if he wants to go in with a bald head or go in with a curl. But either way, he's going in."

Wide receiver Tim Brown failed to make the cut. Former Cowboys defensive end Charles Haley failed to make it as well, despite being the only player with five Super Bowl rings.

"It's a sad day for me and it's sad day, because I know what kind of warrior he truly is," Lott said.
Sanders left the news conference the same way he came in — on the run. His only comments about his induction were heard on the NFL Network.

Sanders brings to 11 the number of Cowboys players who are now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Haley was a second year finalist and will remain eligible for the next 17 years.

Norma Hunt ready to extend Super Bowl Streak

DALLAS, TX - Spending time with Norma Hunt is a walk down memory lane. She has endless stories about her life with Lamar Hunt, one of the great innovators of professional football.
She was married to him for 42 years. They attended the first 40 Super Bowls together. Today, her streak is at 44 and counting.

"Yes because he wanted me to," Norma says. "We went together for 40 years and we both had a 40 year record but he was never so interested in his record as he was in mine."

When he died in December of 2006, he made sure that his son Clark was taking his mother to the next Super Bowl to keep her streak alive as the only woman to see every Super Bowl game.

"It's a very special streak for her to be the only woman who has seen every Super Bowl," says Clark Hunt, Lamar's son. "One of the last things he asked me before he passed away, was to make sure that my mother made it to the Super Bowl. At that time it was the Super Bowl in 2007 because the streak was very important to him as well."

Norma was married to Lamar Hunt when he helped negotiate the merger of the AFL and NFL. She was there when the Packers beat the Chiefs in the very first Championship game which her late husband would later name the Super Bowl.

"In a league meeting, he mentioned the championship game and someone said to him, what do you mean, championship game and he said, you know, the last game, the final game, the Super Bowl just popped out of him," Norma says.

Her favorite memories of all those games is watching the most valuable player emerge.

"Really, it's seeing the MVP's at the games," Norma says. "That's the thing that sticks with me just as an overall great memory of those games."

Since she has seen all the games, you might think that there are certain elements of the Super Bowl she would like to change but that's not the case.

"Actually, the game has improved incrementally in my opinion," Norma says. "What they do with the game, what they do with the pregame, the halftime entertainment, all of those things have improved over time so dramatically so it's not a matter of going back to old days. It's the good new days because it is absolutely better. Things weren't as smooth. Now the production is unbelievable."

And that's coming from someone who's been every super bowl game ever played. On February 6th, she'll attend her 45th Super Bowl.

Scots Welcome Cheese Heads

HIGHLAND PARK, TX - Across from the high school football stadium in Highland Park sits a indoor practice facility that may get to host a special guest.
Girls from the junior varsity soccer team aren't totally sure who's coming to town, but they know it's big.

"It's the Packers and Bears, no the Bears aren't playing, Packers and Bears, no it's the Steelers and the Packers," they all argued.

The reason everyone is so excited on this campus is that the NFL has picked this facility as a potential workout location for the NFC Champion Green Bay Packers. It's their contribution to Super Bowl week and they're proud of it.

"Oh yeah, highland park hosting an NFL team to workout is a great thrill yeah," says Highland Park head football coach Randy Allen. "That's a big recognition."

The NFC team was supposed to work out at Valley Ranch but that changed when the Cowboys indoor practice facility collapsed in May of 2009.

So while Highland Park is hosting soccer practice this week, next week if the weather gets bad, it'll be home to the Packers.

"The whole community is excited about," says Highland Park JV soccer coach Tom Pollock. "I think we can give up our space for a little bit of time to let Aaron and the guys come in and get their work done, sure."

"Highland Park paid for this facility and we like to use it as much as we can," says Highland Park nose guard Bradfield Biggers. "If we can help out the Packers, I'm a big Packers fan."

"It's a very new facility and it's like an honor that we can share with them, a high school team and a pro team," says Highland Park defensive lineman Clay Crews.

If the Packers do practice here, it still doesn't guarantee anyone a ticket to the game.

"Well I asked them about it, but they said there was no ticket involved in this deal," says Allen

Green Bay's workout schedule hasn't been finalized yet but everyone here is hoping the Packers will use this facility at least once.

Brothers Become Entrepreneurs in High School

MURPHY, TX - When it comes to starting a business, Corey and Brandon Wesley from Murphy, Texas are way ahead of the game.
The two are brothers who started their own line of hair products as high school students at Plano East.

"This right here is Corey's do dab," says Brandon. "His name is on the front. I'm on the back. But this is a great product."

"This is the wave pomade, the most popular one," says Corey. "This is a locking wax, and these two are shampoo and conditioner."

"He's cutting his hair constantly, every other day and always complaining about different greases, different brushes," says Brandon. "He wants waves all the time. So one day my mom said why don't you make your own product."

"Other products that I used, they were too thick so I wanted something thinner and I thought that would work," Corey says. "I told my mom and the chemist to fix it up for us and it worked."

That was the beginning of Corey do dab which they started selling on line 13 months ago at coreysdodab.com.

"At first I didn't know how it was going to work out, but as soon as it got together, it was pretty good," Corey says.

Both are active in sports and both are quarterbacks. Corey has two more years left at Plano East and is currently playing basketball.

Brandon was the quarterback at Plano East last year. Now he's the quarterback at Bucknell where he won rookie of the year honors.

The two have become celebrities in their own right, hosting product demonstrations at beauty supply houses, trying to get their product rolling. "We're the most interesting brother combination at our school," Brandon tells a small crowd at demonstration.

"For them to have the vision to want to their own product and to see it be as successful as it has been," says Renee Wesley, their mother. "They're learning great lessons."

"Most people are pretty surprised to see us come in there and have our own product," Brandon says.

They package their product at home and handling their own shipping. Through friends, they've also begun selling in California and Pennsylvania. The parents have also convinced them to save the money they make.

TCU Celebrates Perfect Season

FORT WORTH, TX - TCU's celebration to honor their football team filled Daniel Meyer Coliseum. 7,500 fans showed up to relive a season that they will never forget.
"I was a horned frog when horned frogs weren't cool," says Jim Vaughn of Granbury.

They talked about having a team good enough to win a championship.

"We could have beaten the hell out of Auburn," Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief told the crowd. "We could have beaten the hell out of you, you, you, you, you! Go Frogs!"

The last time TCU football got this kind of notoriety was 1938, that's the year they won the national championship. They didn't bring home a national championship trophy, but the Rose Bowl trophy is as close as they could come.

"The top of our pyramid, by the way we did color it in, I want you to understand, it says champs," says TCU head coach Gary Patterson. "We did color it in. The bottom line is they did everything they could do to be that, so in my mind, and since I’m keeping the pyramid, it's colored in."

Patterson accepted a photo from the Rose Bowl committee taken during the fly by and they handed him the Rose Bowl Trophy a second time.

Nine days ago, Patterson had two more years added to his contract which now extends through the 2018 season. That's eight more seasons and that lead the fans to a chant of "eight more years!"

"If I live through it, I’ll be here for 20 years," Patterson said after the gathering. "This will be my 14th season and everyone has been on the same page. Like I've told people, the greatest thing about Fort Worth and TCU, as a whole university, we're trying to be a national champion."

Jake Kirkpatrick leaves TCU having won the Rimington award as the nation’s top center. He and his wife Callie are expecting their first child before the end of the month.

"I've been trying to keep the baby in until Jake is settled and so now we're just ready to have a baby," Callie says.

"We made it past the season and winning the Rose Bowl was nice but having this baby is going to be one of the best moments in my life," Jake says.

Andy Dalton's parents were on hand to see a send off for their son who leaves as the winningest quarterback in TCU history.

"It's been exciting," Andy's father Greg said. "We haven't come down yet i don't think."

"It's just been such a fun ride," Andy's mother Tina said.

Andy Dalton and Jordan Jones will be married in July. For the seniors, it may have been the last gathering for the entire team.

"There will still be some other things," Dalton said. "We'll all come back but it's kind of crazy that it's all over with now."