Cover photo for Petty Officer John Paul Fritz's Obituary
Petty Officer John Paul Fritz Profile Photo

Petty Officer John Paul Fritz

August 31, 1989 — January 8, 2019

Petty Officer John Paul Fritz

Petty Officer John Paul Fritz passed away January 8, 2019, at the age of 29.

John Paul was born August 31, 1989 at The Women’s Hospital of Texas in Houston to John Mark and Cathy Jane Fritz. The fourth child of seven, his father is now a retired Houston police officer, and his mother is a nurse. The second oldest son, he was raised with siblings Lauren Emily, Mallory Beth, John Joseph, John Luke, Hannah Grace, and Mikaela Ruth in Houston, Chappell Hill, and Washington, Texas. Growing up, John Paul was curious, adventurous, and impulsive, loving to climb trees, build forts, dig holes, and grow plants. He loved fish, amphibians, and snakes, which he often collected and kept in his room without his family’s knowledge. These animals included baby bunnies, turtles, frogs, and snakes. His favorite baby bunny was named Ripley. One of the snakes he caught escaped in the house and was never found. John Paul also once walked into the house carrying a fawn that had fallen into a hole he had dug on the property. If he could catch it and keep it, he would. He also had a pet rubber snake named “snakey” that he took everywhere with him. It was almost as long as he was tall. John Paul had a green thumb and could make any plant flourish and grow, including an avocado and lemon tree that he grew from seeds nine years ago, right before he joined the Navy. They are still growing and thriving today. As a young child, John Paul once lost a tooth while eating a grilled cheese sandwich. He was so disturbed that he threw it (tooth and sandwich) out into the yard. It was then picked up by a squirrel and carried away (up a tree) while John Paul watched.

John Paul grew so fast as a child that he would get terrible leg cramps that would cause him to suddenly start crying and limping. His family still has videos from a Colorado vacation showcasing one such instance. His brothers and sister would do their best to comfort him during these times. Loving to fish, swim, camp, and hike, John Paul was a natural athlete and was the best swimmer in the family. He also loved the ocean, beaches, the mountains, the forest, and Pokémon. He would play countless hours on his Xbox with his sister (Hannah) whenever he came home on leave. He enjoyed traveling to foreign countries and learning about their history. John Paul absolutely loved life and all of its adventures.

John Paul was homeschooled and continued his education through the Navy. Petty Officer First Class Fritz joined the Navy on November 9, 2009, and after completing recruit training in Great Lakes, Illinois, he attended Nuclear Field ‘A’ School and Nuclear Power School in Charleston, South Carolina, and then prototype training in Ballston Spa, New York. Upon completion of training he was selected as a Junior Staff Instructor for the Modifications and Additions to a Reactor Facility (MARF) Prototype from January 2012 until June 2013. From there he went on to serve onboard the USS FLORIDA (SSGN 728) Gold Crew, a nuclear power guided missile submarine homeported in Kings Bay, Georgia. While stationed aboard, John Paul was assigned as the Reactor Control’s Lead Petty Officer and completed four missions vital to national security. In 2017, he was selected to become an instructor and reported to Naval Nuclear Power Training Command in Charleston, South Carolina, where he was assigned as an instructor in Instrumentation and Control Equipment, the capstone course for future Nuclear Electronics Technicians. He recently completed a revised instruction course for the Power Training Command that was so innovative that it would affect the way students are instructed for the next fifteen years.

John Paul loved to learn...specifically chemistry, advanced mathematics, and nuclear physics. His supervisor told his family that he had just picked up a book on organic chemistry to read in his spare time. He was known for reading books like this just for the challenge. He loved to experiment and to reverse engineer anything, just to see how it worked. Once, at the end of a garage sale for St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, he asked his mother to pick up all of the old computers being thrown away so that he could remove the computer boards and extract gold from them. He was adventurous and impulsive and loved experimenting with new things. To this end, he recently took up blacksmithing and forging. He once saw a Mythbusters episode that said music made plants grow, so he played music for them every day and proved that it worked. He never wanted to waste time since he believed there was always a new challenge or experiment to do. When he came home for Christmas in 2018, the first thing he did was build a heat shield out of several household compounds and chemicals. He then wrapped it around a plastic cup and used a blow torch on it to show that the cup would be protected. It was! He and a friend were trying to develop a new type of more efficient rocket fuel and were discussing starting a company once they retired from the Navy. John Paul never let up. He always gave 100% in whatever he was doing and was determined to do everything right and to be able to improve on any project or challenge.

John Paul loved his family. He was very close to his parents, and still unashamedly called them mommy and daddy. He was glad to spend time with them, and one of his favorite memories was going together with the family to Disney World in 2004. He loved to tell wild and crazy stories for dramatic effect and then laugh at his family’s reactions. One of his favorite things to do was to call his mother and tell her he was in jail, just to mess with her. He was engaged to be married in August 2019 to his fiancé Mikaela Dalke, and dearly loved his nine-year-old daughter, Madeline Elizabeth Ann Fritz. He was very passionate about his beliefs and never held back about how he felt about any subject. John Paul had a strong background in his faith. He was a LifeTeen and was very involved in the youth group at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church all through his teen years.

John Paul’s favorite tree is a Dogwood Tree. The Navy Nuclear Power School is planning to plant one at their command in memory of him.

John Paul leaves behind his parents John Mark and Cathy Jane Fritz, his sister Lauren Emily, his sister Mallory Beth, his brother John Joseph, his brother John Luke, his sister Hannah Grace, his sister Mikaela Ruth, his daughter Madeline Elizabeth Ann, his nieces and nephews, and countless aunts, uncles, and cousins.

To honor his life, a visitation will be held from 5-8 pm on Monday, January 28, 2019 with a Vigil and Rosary service to begin at 6:30 pm at Hillier Funeral Home of COLLEGE STATION. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 am on Tuesday, January 29, 2019 at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church with interment and Final Full Naval Honors to follow at Mt. Calvary Catholic Cemetery.

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Petty Officer John Paul Fritz, please visit our flower store.

Past Services

Visitation

Monday, January 28, 2019

5:00 - 8:00 pm

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Vigil Service and Rosary

Monday, January 28, 2019

Starts at 6:30 pm

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Mass of Christian Burial

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Starts at 10:00 am

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Graveside Service

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Starts at 11:00 am

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Final Military Honors

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Starts at 11:00 am

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Reception

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Starts at 12:00 pm

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