Robert "Bob" G. Fritts

Robert "Bob" G. Fritts passed away on Friday, May 16, 2008, after a long battle with cancer. He was 68 years old. Bob was born April 27, 1940, in Sterling, Ill., to Alfred O. and Virginia D. Fritts.

He is survived by his wife, Fran Elliott Fritts, of 38 years; three daughters, Kellie (Chris) Dudley, of Mount Pleasant, S.C.; Tammy Brashear, Millbrook, Ala.; Shellie (Craig) Conway, of Aydlett, N.C.; nine grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and one brother John O. Fritts, of Greenwood, Mo.

Bob was a 1958 graduate of Metz High School, Metz, Mo., and earned an associate degree in respiratory therapy from Boise State University, Boise, Idaho, in 1974, and a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Missouri, Kansas City, in 1977. He held credentials as a registered respiratory therapist and a certified pulmonary function technologist. After 23 years with the Department of Veterans Affairs, he retired as the director, cardio-pulmonary department, Veteran's Medical Center, in Montgomery, Ala.. After two years of retirement, he returned to work in the private sector at Baptist Hospital South, in Montgomery, Ala., doing bronchoscopes and pulmonary function testing. He retired from Baptist Hospital South, in December 2007.

Due to his passion for patient care, Bob requested his body be donated to the University of Alabama Medical School for medical research. Since 1967, Bob was a member in good standing of Cass Lodge 147 AF and AM, in Harrisonville, Mo., and the El Korah Shrine, in Boise, Idaho.

A memorial service is planned on Thursday, May 22, 7 p.m., at First United Methodist Church of Millbrook, 3350 Edgewood Road, Millbrook, Ala. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to one of the following in Bob's memory: Baptist Hospice, 301 Interstate Park Drive, Montgomery, AL 36109, or Shriner's Children's Hospital, through Alcazar Shrine, 555 Eastern Blvd., Montgomery, AL 36117.

Please request an acknowledgment to be sent to Mrs. Fran Fritts and family, 33 Cattail Curve, Millbrook, AL 36054.