Elizabeth Fritz Stich

The earthly life of Mary Elizabeth stich has ended. However, like all mothers, her presence will live on in her children.

Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1922, you could have expected her to be a city girl. But not so. She developed a love for horseback riding and the natural world on the Pennsylvania farms of her parents’ families. She once slit a snake open with her pocketknife to see what the lump in its belly was. That was a good indication of her path to surgical nursing where she spent a large portion of her working career.

Betty obtained her first nursing certificate in New Jersey and then came to Tallahassee, FL to attend FSU to get her Bachelor of Nursing degree. Betty met her future husband Bill Stich there. They married, built a home and started their family in Tallahassee. Betty and Bill were part of the staff that opened Tallahassee Memorial Hospital in 1950. After moving to Jacksonville in 1959 for Bill’s career, Betty was on the nursing staff at Riverside Hospital where she was the operating room supervisor for more than 30 years, until it was absorbed by St. Vincent’s.

Betty’s family and the Church of the Redeemer were her focus outside her 45-year nursing career. She and Bill had been valuable members of Church of the Redeemer since its opening on Terry Road.

After retiring from nursing, she continued horseback riding and Jet Ski riding into her 70’s and 80’s. But the passage of time forced her to slow down. Finally, her heart gave out on December 28, 2021.

Betty’s first child, Richard, predeceased her but is survived by his wife Jackie, daughter Corrin and granddaughter Paisley. She is also survived by her son David and her daughter Sandra Taunton. David and his wife Kathy have two sons, Jared and Martin (Daniela). Sandra and Rick (deceased) have four children, Jonathan, Shaun, Kristin MacQueen and Lauren. Jonathan and Molly have three children, Natalie, Noah, and Levi. Kristin and Bill have one daughter, Sandler. She also has numerous nieces and nephews.

She will be greatly missed and fondly remembered by the many, many people whose lives she touched.

A funeral service for Elizabeth will be held Thursday, January 6, 2022 from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM at Anglican Church of the Redeemer, 4815 Executive Park Court, Jacksonville, FL 32216, followed by a visitation from 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM.