Norman G. Fritz

Norman was born to parents Elmer and Alberta Fritz on May 28th, 1934, in San Diego, California. He proudly served for 20 years in the United States Air Force. He also earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management from the University of West Florida. During his civilian career, Norman served on the Pensacola City Council.

Norman is survived by his wife of 66 years, Philomena “Nina” Landolfi. They had five children together: son Norman Fritz (deceased), son and daughter-in-law John and Sharon Fritz, son Paul Fritz, son David Fritz, and daughter and son-in-law Nichole and William Warren. He was lovingly known as “Papa” to eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Norman also has a sister, Linda Fritz and brother, Donald Fritz (deceased).

The Fritz Family would like to send a warm thank you to the staff of the Life Care Center of Pensacola, where Norman spent the last 13 months of his life.

The family will receive friends from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 13, 2024 at Bayview Fisher-Pou Chapel.

The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m., Thursday, March 14, 2024 at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart with Father Dennis O’Brien and Monsignor Michael Reed as celebrants. The Rosary will be recited at 9:30 a.m. at the Cathedral.

A reception will immediately follow the service in the Ave Maria Hall adjacent to the Cathedral.

BAYVIEW FISHER-POU CHAPEL, 3351 Scenic Highway is entrusted with arrangements.

EULOGY - DAD March 14, 2024

Good morning and welcome to the celebration of life for Norman Glen Fritz. My name is John Fritz and I am the son of Norman Fritz.

First of all I want to thank everyone for coming especially family that came in from New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio, North Carolina and other states. As you can tell from the size of our gathering, dad impacted a lot of lives.

Dad was born on May 28, 1934 in San Diego, California. Dad was married to my mom, Nina, for 66 years. They raised 5 children together, Norman Jr., myself, Paul, David, and Nichole. Dad also had a younger brother, Don and sister, Linda. And lest we forget Pnut, his devoted companion.

Dad had both a military and civilian career. He retired with honors from the United States Air Force in 1974. Dad was a missile and weapons system technician and then Master Instructor. One of his Air Force career highlights was that he was one of two airmen selected to work at the summer White House for President Dwight D. Eisenhower for six months. Dad said it was not only quite an honor but quite exciting to see all the people you saw only on TV or hears about in the newspapers.

When dad retired in 1974 at Tyndall AFB in Panama City, he decided to move the family to Pensacola. Mainly for 2 reason. Pensacola had a Catholic HS, and also a 4 year college where dad could finish his degree. It was tough leaving our friends in Panama City, but we ended up loving Pensacola. Pensacola has been home for our family now for 50 years!

Dad had various careers in Pensacola, notably Business Manager at Pepsi, Region Manager at A.L. Williams, and ultimately Business Manager for the State of Florida. Dad also served the Pensacola community when he served on the City Council under Mayor Vince Whibbs.

Dad decided to write his life story about 20 years ago and type it up for us kids to have. I only discovered it a few years ago when going through some files. I want to share a story from his childhood that I thought was pretty special and historical. It goes like this and told from dad's perspective.

My dad Elmer who was in the Navy was sent to Hawaii in 1939. My mom, Alberta and I went by ship in 1939 to join him in Honolulu. For a young boy age 5, I was thrilled with the trip. I don't remember too much until December 07, 1941. I was 7 at the time. I was playing in the front yard and saw planes flying over our house and heard the bombs and saw smoke rising from the Navy base. My mother came running out of the house and grabbed me, and my father ran out the door to his duty station at Pearl Harbor. We did not see him for over a week. When he finally came home to bathe, change clothes, and sleep for about 12 hours, he quickly went back to Pearl Harbor to work in the recovery effort.

Besides being raised in Hawaii until 1948 and the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 07, 1941, there was one other highlight I remember.

A classmate of mine whose father was in the Army Air Corp heard him tell his mother about the new plane arriving the next day. The classmate and I , after school, went over to Hickman Army Air Force Base. There was security all over, but no one worried about two young boys walking arounI was almost 11 at the time. To make a long story short, we watched the first B-29 Bombers arrive at the base on their way to the pacific to bomb Tokyo. So dad at age 7 saw the bombing at Pearl Harbor which started the war with Japan and witnessed the Bombers that left for Tokyo to end the war. He was almost 11 at the time.

At the end of dad's life story that he wrote for us kids he said; Make sure you take care of your mother. Mom was the glue that held us together. Remember that if nothing else.

The best way I can describe dad is unselfish. He did for others versus for himself. For example, he worked part time jobs while in the Air Force to be able to support the family and put all five kids through Catholic School. There were some benefits for us kids too. While stationed at McGuire AFB in New Jersey dad worked part time as the manager of a Carved Ice Cream shop at night. Dad took care of us when mom brought us up there to visit. Dad sacrificed so that we could be better prepared for life.

Besides dad's unselfishness he took a genuine interest in the people he met and cared about. He was like a mentor and second father to a lot of young men. Eric Blay and John Taylor i think you would agree with me on that. And there are many others.

Dad also was king of the one liners. Many of who knew dad good probably heard some of these.

For us kids or anyone that ate mom's good cooking when you cleaned your plate he would always say: Did you get enough? Always asked even till the end.

Secondly whenever he poured a glass of wine he would make the comment: "For medicinal purposes only". And if you poured a drink he would be right back at you with "go ahead it is for medicinal purposes".

The third one he never failed when one of us kids were visiting with our spouses he would ask the female; "How is he treating you, good? If not I will box is ears". Some of you may have experienced this line when talking to dad.

And the last example we saw a lot due to his hospital stays and thirteen months he spent at the Life Care Center of Pensacola. When a nurse would take blood or poke hi with a needle he would turn away and say "ouch" then immediately turn back around and tell the nurse "Thank you." Dad did not have a mean bone in his body.

Most of you know that dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2017. Without mom's love and dedication dad fell and broke his hip. Dad did his rehab there and eventually it became his new home. Mom and Pnut spend every day with dad, walking with him, talking to him and just loving on him. If it wasn't for mom's daily visits dad's quality of life would have declined sooner. And I can't say enough about the loving and caring staff of the Life Care Center. They truly loved dad and cared for him like he was their family member.

As I mentioned dad was known for his unselfishness and love of family and friends. But dad's love for mom, his Nina was unmatched. A love that spanned 66 years of marriage and truly was a thing of beauty.

And to close I wanted to touch on the things we will miss about Norman, my dad; his smile, his hugs, his one liners, and his presence overall. Dad we love you and you will be sorely missed, but "Never Forgotten".