Eva "Fritz" Rowe Willis

Fritz was born March 11, 1918 in Owensboro, Kentucky and graduated from the University of Kentucky. Fritz is survived by her children, David Porter Willis, Thomas Rowe (Gretchen) Willis, Deborah Willis Davis, Nancy Willis (Timothy) Zeiger, and daughter-in-law Carol Willis, and son-in-law Tony Conner. She has 9 grandchildren, 15 great grandchildren, and two great-great grandchildren. She is predeceased by her husband Maurice Porter Willis (“M.P.”), her daughter Elizabeth Willis Conner, and son-in-law Larry Davis.

She married M.P. in 1941 and lived in Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama during his military service in World War II. During M.P.’s subsequent ministry to Baptist college students on the local and state level, they lived in Kentucky, Illinois, and Alabama. Later they returned to Montgomery where M.P. served as minister of education first at Eastern Hills Baptist Church and then at Dalraida Baptist Church.

Fritz was a charter and active member of both Eastern Hills and Gateway Baptist Church in Montgomery. She taught sign language and Bible Studies, sang in the choir, and interpreted for the deaf in several church ministries. She also had a full time career as a microbiologist with the Alabama State Health Laboratories.

After retirement, Fritz pursued her passion for roses of all varieties and exhibited her prize-winning blooms at the Alabama State Fair. She volunteered with deaf programs, and taught English as a Second Language (“ESL”) classes. In 1994, Fritz received a Senior of Achievement Award from the Montgomery Area Council on Aging. As a widow, she moved to Dallas, Texas, and continued volunteering in deaf and ESL ministries. In 2006, Fritz moved to Statesboro, Georgia where she was a member of First Baptist Church.

Memorial donations may be made in her honor to the Alabama Baptist Conference of the Deaf, 502 Oak Circle, Talladega, Alabama, 35160.

Services will be held at Leak Memory Chapel in Montgomery, Alabama on Sunday, February 8, 2015. Dr. Rick Marshall will officiate. There will be a brief graveside service at 1:30 pm, at Greenwood Cemetery. Family visitation at Leak Memory Chapel will be at 2:00 pm followed by the Celebration of her life at 3:00 pm.

Arrangements under the direction of Leak Memory Chapel, Montgomery, AL.