Charlie Fritz's Obituary
Charlie Fritz, the best man who ever lived, died very suddenly Saturday afternoon at home during halftime of the Michigan football game. He exuberantly loved his family and friends, University of Michigan football, golf, and Lake Michigan. He often wondered aloud, “What did we ever do to get to live in such a beautiful place?” Charlie was born and raised in Grand Rapids, attending St. Stephen’s elementary school and Grand Rapids Catholic Central (class of 1967). He was a proud graduate of the University of Michigan School of Engineering and spent most of his career as the Quality Control Manager at CWC here in Muskegon. He was proud to be an Eagle Scout, and spent many years committed to his son’s Troop 1056. He very much enjoyed being a board member of Community EnCompass and serving the people they served. He was a great cheerleader for that group and loved to invite new people to his table at their Taste & See event every year. His children attended Muskegon Catholic Central, where Charlie became an active and avid volunteer. He gave his time and energy to countless MCC events and fundraisers, but he was most dedicated to the Theatre Department and was on the set-building crew from 1987 to the present. When he retired early at 59 (in 2008) he soon became bored (Charlie had to be kept busy) and so he started substitute teaching. He subbed all over Muskegon and Ottawa Counties, but his favorite was subbing for Muskegon Catholic. He was ridiculously good at it and loved it. Charlie lived an enthusiastic life. He thought outside the box. He was kind, generous, sweet, loving, loud, interrupting, empathetic, morally just, endearing, hard-working, and he cried easily. He was a born cook and loved to feed people and to entertain - he was the best host. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Mary Hefferan Fritz and their children, Molly Fritz, Joe (Maggie) Fritz, Catherine (Cyrus Scholl) Fritz, and their inherited children, nephew, Paul Plucinsky, and niece, Jessica Plucinsky; granddaughters, Sying (James) Garzon and Mary Jimenez Plucinsky; great-granddaughter Liliana Garzon; siblings, Cecelia Fritz (George) Ginger, Betsy (Peter) Kantz, Phil Fritz; and brother-in-law, Bob Hefferan; as well as many well-loved nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. He is also survived by friends who were family, some of whom were Tim and Nikki Nass and family, Bob DeLong and family, Rem and Ginny Sprague and family, and many, many more. Charlie collected people who loved him and loved them fiercely in return. He was preceded in death by his parents, Philip and Betty (Dugan) Fritz; his in-laws, Giles and Alice Hefferan; two siblings, Mary Jean Fritz and Peggy Fritz Plucinsky; as well as his brother-in-law, Steve Plucinsky. The Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:00 AM Saturday, November 22, 2025, at St. Francis Catholic Church, located at 2929 McCracken St. in Norton Shores. VISITATION will be held Thursday and Friday (November 20 and 21) from 5 PM to 8 PM at The Lee Chapel of Sytsema Funeral & Cremation Services, 6291 S. Harvey St., Norton Shores, MI 49444. Rosary will be prayed at 5 PM Friday at the beginning of the visitation. Memorial contributions may be made to the Muskegon Catholic Central Theatre Department in his memory.
What’s your fondest memory of Charlie?
What’s a lesson you learned from Charlie?
Share a story where Charlie's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Charlie you’ll never forget.
How did Charlie make you smile?