Monday, January 9, 2012

Farewell to a Family Friend

James B. Fritz
1927-2012
The Woolfolk Group was saddened to learn of the death of Mr. James B. "Jimmy" Fritz of Southfield, Michigan on Tuesday, January 3, 2012.  Mr. Fritz was a retired funeral director and long time friend of TWG President and CEO Mike Woolfolk's family.

Fritz was born in 1927 in Washington, Pennsylvania and his family moved to Detroit, Michigan when he was six months old.  Except for a tour of duty in the U.S. Army after World War II, Fritz worked in the funeral business founded by his father in 1937.

"Mr. Fritz was good friend to my father and I got to know him and his daughter, Christina, when Dad called upon the Fritz Funeral Home to handle my grandparents' final arrangements," said Woolfolk.  "I'll always remember Mr. Fritz for his kind, warm and caring demeanor as he helped us all deal with our grief.  Years later, he helped us with arrangements for my mother's father."

Fritz Funeral Home provided nearly 70-years of dedicated service to families in the metropolitan Detroit area.  According to his obituary, Mr. Fritz was known as the "friendly undertaker" and the "diplomatic face of the funeral home as he provided comfort and dignified and respectful service to families in mourning…"  Fritz oversaw the final arrangements and burial of former Mayor Coleman A. Young in 1997, diligently and respectfully standing watch over the mayor's body during the entire time it laid in repose at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.

"He was a very dedicated and skilled funeral director who gave everyone the same level of caring service," said Woolfolk.  "He could always find a way to make you smile, even laugh, in the midst of grief.  That was a wonderful thing."

James B. Fritz leaves to mourn his beloved wife, Mary; their daughter, Christina; daughter Kelly and many more family members and friends.  They are all in the thoughts and prayers of the entire Woolfolk family.




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