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Never forgetting firefighter Fritzy
AUSTINTOWN
Nothing but hushed voices and the sound of sniffling echoed in the Austintown Fitch High School halls that were overflowing with people waiting to pay their respects to their beloved “Fritzy.”
Township firefighters found Austintown firefighter John Fritz, 48, of Winslow Drive, Mineral Ridge, dead at Fire Station No. 1 after he did not respond to a fire call Monday morning.
Fritz’s cause of death has not been determined, but township officials suspect it was a heart attack.
Fritz was a 1986 Fitch graduate, a township firefighter since February 1992, and a fire instructor for Mahoning County Career and Technical Center in Canfield for many years.
Michelle Maglis dried her eyes and held her daughter, Bella, close as she walked away from the Fritz family during Friday evening calling hours.
Maglis said she helped coach Kassidey Fritz, his daughter, in cheerleading, and Bella was close with Halley, another daughter.
“I just know they have an angel watching over them, and they’re in our hearts,” Maglis said.
Austintown Fire Chief Andrew R. Frost III mirrored Maglis’ feelings.
“We’re losing a dear friend and a great firefighter,” he said.
“I’m not sure how we are going to move on from here, but we will rally together to do it. He is truly irreplaceable.”
Dan Martin, Austintown fire captain, said there was no one like “Fritzy.”
“John was a hard worker who loved his family,” he said.
“He was a good guy. I never met anybody who was more willing to give than that man. He was a high-caliber individual who loved what he did with a passion.”
As friends and family left calling hours, they congregated outside auditorium doors to remember Fritz fondly.
Elisabeth O’Hara, family friend, said Fritz helped raised her, so as far as memories, she can’t memorialize just one when she thinks of him.
“He’s in all of them,” she said.
Fritz leaves his wife, Karen, and five children.
Today’s funeral also will be at the high school at 10 a.m. after the 9 a.m. calling hours.
The procession will leave the high school directly after the services and go to Tod Homestead Cemetery, 2200 Belmont Ave., Youngstown.