The Honorable John W Fritz, Jr.

The Honorable John W. Fritz, Jr., died on Tuesday, June 30, 2009, in his Quakertown home. He was 88.

Born in Johnstown, PA on May 15, 1921 to John W. and Marian Schade Fritz, John was second Boys' State Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1937. He graduated from Southmont High School in May 1937 and from Pennsylvania State University in February 1942 in absentia, with a B.A. in education two weeks after commencing a war-connected job at the Army Air Force Depot in Middletown.

On October 10, 1942, John married Mildred Marie Taylor, daughter of Dr. Thomas Smith and Nelle Rietz Taylor, and two days later began World War II service in the Army Air Force. He graduated from Officer Candidate School in Brisbane, Australia, in May 1944 and served as a Second and First Lieutenant and as a Captain in New Guinea, Owi Island, the Philipines, Okinawa and Japan, returning to the U.S. in November 1945.

John graduated from Columbia Law School with and LL.B in February 1948. He became an associate at the Newark, NJ firm of Cox and Walburg and changed his association to Wharton, Hall, Stewart & Halpern, Somerville, NJ, where he became a partner in May 1955. John specialized in trial work throughout his professional career as a lawyer.

He was appointed to the Superior Court bench by Governor Richard J. Hughes in June 1966; served on the trial bench in Morristown until September 1969; served in Chancery in Trenton until March 1971; and served in the Appellate Division of the Superior Court until his retirement in 1986.

In the early 1960s, John was a founding member of the Bridgewater United Methodist Church. Over the years he became a well-respected “pastor to pastors,” often filling a pulpit during a minister’s absence. His youth group work throughout New Jersey has impacted many.

Surviving are his wife, Mildred; a sister, Maryanne Evans of Waynesburg, PA; three daughters, Linda Fritz of Three Forks, MT, Cheryl Toschlog of Richmond, IN and Melissa Minarik of Quakertown, NJ; and six grandchildren, Diana Cox, Stephen Toschlog, John Toschlog, Craig Brewer, Rachel Minarik and Nicholas Minarik.

Funeral Services will be held Monday at 1:00 p.m. in the Quakertown United Methodist Church, Route 579, Quakertown, NJ under the direction of the Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main Street, Flemington, NJ. Interment will follow in Locust Grove Cemetery, Quakertown, NJ. Calling hours will be Sunday from 1:00-3:00 p.m. in the Funeral Home. Please visit www.holcombefisher.com for further information or to send condolences.

Memorial contributions may be made to Berea College, Berea, KY 40404.