Fredric 'Fritz' Dethlefsen

VisitationFriday, March 24, 2006, 9 AM - 10:30 AM Zion Lutheran Church in Manning

Funeral ServiceFriday, March 24, 2006, 10:30 AM Zion Lutheran Church in Manning

IntermentManning Cemetery in Manning

Fredric William Fritz? Dethlefsen

   Fredric William Fritz?, son of Frederick C. and Florence Marie (Bolte) Dethlefsen, was born February 9, 1934, at Kenwood, Iowa. Fritz was raised on a farm west and north of Manning and was baptized at the Lutheran Church in Denison and confirmed at Zion Lutheran Church in Manning. He graduated from Manning High School in 1952. During high school he worked as a farmhand and following high school he moved to Illinois where he started working as a production welder at Caterpillar Inc. in Joliet. While there, he met and married Lindalee Heisel in 1953. Two children were born to this union. He retired from Caterpillar Quality Control in 1986.    As a Certified Illinois Firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician, Fritz served as a volunteer fireman with the East Joliet Fire Department for 15 years. He was a Will County, Illinois, election judge for 10 years and volunteered as a county coordinator for the Crawford County, Iowa, GenWeb. He enjoyed genealogy, fishing, computers and welding. After retiring he moved to Arizona.    When Fritzs health began to fail, he was cared for by Americare Hospice in Chandler, AZ, where he died on Saturday, March 18, 2006, at the age of 72 years, 1 month and 9 days.    Preceding him in death are his parents and two brothers Richard Lee Dick Dethlefsen and Maurice Bud Graff.    He is survived by his daughter Nancy Ann and husband Ed Woods of Corona, CA; son William Fredric Dethlefsen and special friend Joyce Smith of Joliet, IL; grandchildren: Tamra Lee Woods; Tye Robert Zola and wife Karina; Beth Woods and Kimberly George; great-grandchildren: Lindsey George; Mason George and Jacob George; three sisters: LaJune and husband Theodore Miller of Dow City; Helen and husband Allan Weber of Sibley and Linda Marie and husband Art Hayden of Sioux City; two sisters-in-law Jane Graff of Seward, NE and Gwen Dethlefsen of Mesa, AZ; and many friends in Illinois, Arizona and Manning, Iowa.