Fritz

SLEEPY EYE — Good friends of veteran WCCO TV sportscaster Ralph Jon Fritz fondly recalled their memories of him Thursday, Dec. 7.

Well into retirement, Fritz, 78, a Sleepy Eye native and St. Mary’s High School graduate, was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2015. He died Wednesday, Nov. 6, in Florida. He was a WCCO TV Channel 4 sportscaster for 40 years.

Fritz recently posted on his CaringBridge personal health journal website that since he was too weak to continue with chemotherapy treatment, he would be under hospice care to aid his “move to a better place.”

“He was a good friend, a classmate and teammate,” said Les Haala of Sleepy Eye, who said he talked to Fritz a few weeks ago. “The chemotherapy was really tough on him.”

Haala, who grew up on a farm near Sleepy Eye, said he stayed with Fritz’ family in Sleepy Eye during the winter months when the weather was rough.

In junior high school, Fritz was noted for having very large hands, fingers so long that he could pick up a basketball with one hand, Haala said. “He was a very good ball player,” Haala said.

St. Mary’s teammate Ed Schotzko of Sleepy Eye agreed.

“We called him ‘fingers’ because his fingers were so long,” Schotzko said. “He was our point guard and always a real team player. He was one of the nicest guys I ever knew. He said he wanted to be a sportscaster since he was in grade school.”

Dean Brinkman of Sleepy Eye said Fritz was “a fun-loving guy with an infectious smile, a twinkle in his eye who loved life and sports. He laughed at and with life and never forgot Sleepy Eye.”

“Anybody who met him was lucky enough to call him friend,” Brinkman said. “He loved to talk about Sleepy Eye, western Wisconsin, sports and bass fishing. He treated me like we were childhood friends.”

Schotzko, Haala, Fritz and others, such as pitcher Fred Bruckbauer who played basketball and baseball at St. Mary’s in the late 1950s, participated in a number of state tournaments.

(Bruckbauer was 16-5 as a pitcher for the University of Minnesota Gophers, before receiving a signing bonus estimated at $50,000 — equal to $410,788 today — from the Washington Senators in 1959. Bruckbauer made one appearance for the Minnesota Twins in 1961. A shoulder injury took away most of his promise.)

Fritz, known for his great sense of humor and often smiling face, in an out of the newsroom, covered many Minnesota state high school hockey tournaments white at WCCO TV. He hosted an outdoor feature show, “Out ‘N’ About with R. J. Fritz.”

A public tribute to Fritz with eulogies to be given by several WCCO TV media staff is being planned. Further details will be arranged later.

Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.