Elizabeth Joan Fritz

Elizabeth Joan Fritz (Joan) of Fort Collins, Colorado passed on Thursday, January 5, 2017. She was 98 years old. Family service will be at Bohlender Funeral Chapel with internment at Grandview Cemetery. Joan was born July 7, 1918 in Franklin, Indiana to Ernest Bishop (Griz) Wagner and Cora Alva Wedeking Wagner. Cora Wagner was a German language teacher in Franklin and Griz Wagner had a very prestigious career as basketball coach at both Franklin High School and Franklin College. Griz passed away when Joan was just sixteen. Joan graduated Valedictorian from Franklin High School in 1936 with a scholarship in music to Franklin College. She graduated from Franklin College with a Biology degree in 1940 and was a member of PI BETA PHI. In college she was involved with a music trio called the 3Js for Jean, Jane, and Joan playing the violin, the flute, and the piano. Joan played the piano and had perfect pitch. Cora, Joan, and her younger brother John all moved to Fort Collins in 1940. Joan attended CSU for a year and then attended the nursing program at the University of Colorado where she graduated as an RN in 1943. After graduation she worked as the surgical nurse for Dr Nathan Beebe in Fort Collins. Here she met and married Dale Blaine Fritz in September 1945. Their first child, Robert Dale Fritz was born in August of 1946. After Bob’s birth they moved to Denver where Dale had secured a job with the Internal Revenue Service. They lived in Wheat Ridge, Colorado where their daughter Eileen was born. In 1951 they moved to unincorporated Lakewood, Colorado where they planned to raise chickens to supplement their income. In 1953 their second son Gary was born and in 1960 their third son Terrell was born. During this time of raising four children, Joan also supported the community by distributing United Way pledge records and joining a group of women in a Sewing Club. Her mother passed away in 1971 and Joan and Dale moved back to Fort Collins in 1972 after Lakewood was incorporated. She continued supporting community projects by distributing Meals-on-Wheels for the United Way. Her proudest accomplishment was raising her four children and providing them all with college educations. Elizabeth Joan is survived by Bob and MeriLu Fritz of Centennial, Colorado; Eileen and Raul Alvarez of Erie, Colorado; Gary and Barbara Fritz of LaPorte, Colorado; and Terrell Fritz of Fort Collins, Colorado. At her passing she had eight grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. She was proceeded in death by her husband Dale and her brother John.

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Elizabeth Joan Fritz

July 7, 1918 - January 5, 2017