Ann Parsons Fritts

Ann P. Fritts passed away on April 7, 2016. She was born to Harriet Druscilla Jones Parsons and C. Richard Parsons on July 20, 1929. She grew up in New York and the Midwest. She graduated from New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, Illinois in 1947, and from the University of Illinois in 1951 with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Journalism. She was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. In 1952, she married Garland G. Fritts of Oak Park, Illinois and they spent the next five years moving every six months during his service in the United States Air Force as a jet fighter pilot. They had two children, Richard G. Fritts and Julie Ann Fritts. In 1956, the family moved to Midland, Michigan while her husband was employed by Dow Chemical Company. Ann served as President of the Episcopal Church Women at St. John’s Church in Midland. The family moved to Park Ridge, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 1961. Ann served on the Board of the Park Ridge School for Girls. The family spent 1964 to 1966 in Manila, Philippine Islands, where Ann taught English at the International School. Ann and her family moved in 1966 to Atlanta, where she joined the faculty of The Lovett School as an English teacher. She then completed her Master’s in guidance and counseling and was appointed in 1970 as the Director of Guidance at Lovett, with specific responsibility for college counseling. She served as a member and President of the National Association for College Admission Counselors, as a member of the Southern regional council of the College Board, and as a speaker at numerous educational conferences. The Southern Association of College Admission Counselors awarded her its Distinguished Service Award in 1985. After Ann moved to Chicago in 1985, she served as the guidance counselor for Lake Forest Academy and became a member of Midwest Council of the College Board. She also served as a conference leader at summer institutes at the College of William and Mary for rising high school seniors. Ann returned to Atlanta in 1993 to work at Pace Academy as the Director of College Counseling until her retirement in 1995. During her career as a college admissions counselor, she counseled thousands of students, and received countless coffee mugs, pennants, and T-shirts from former students and college admissions officers. In retirement, she served in numerous roles at her church, the Cathedral of St. Philip, including serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the Thrift House, as Chairman of St. Elizabeth’s Guild, and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Episcopal Church Women at the Cathedral. She also worked on the information desk. Since 2011, she lived at Lenbrook, a retirement community in north Atlanta. She was an avid bridge player and continued her volunteer work at the Cathedral. She is survived by her son Richard Garland Fritts and his wife Mary Kay Fritts, of Coral Springs, Florida, and their son Michael Allen Fritts, and their daughters Elizabeth Ann Fritts and Laura Marie Fritts, as well as her daughter Julie Fritts Kaptur and her husband Casey J. Kaptur, of Evergreen, Colorado, and their children Joseph J. Kaptur and Allison Fritts Kaptur. She will be greatly missed. A funeral service will be held for Ann Fritts at the Cathedral of St. Philip, 2744 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, Georgia 30305, on Friday, April 15th at 3:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider a donation to the Cathedral or to the American Cancer Society.