In loving memory of Charles Michael Fritsch

Obituary

Charles “Chuck” Fritsch, age 87 of Bonita Springs FL passed away peacefully on 8/1/24 with family around him. Predeceased by his parents, Chuck is survived by his wife Cindy Walpole, children Bob Fritsch (wife Nancy), Lynn Fritsch Lakner (husband John), David Fritsch, former wife Mary Fritsch, granddaughter Marie Pealor (husband Josh and children Orion and Loukas), sister Erna Johnson, and nephews Peter and Michael Johnson. Chuck will also be dearly missed by his many assorted relatives, cousins and friends.

Born in Staten Island to Mae and Charles Fritsch, he graduated with a degree in mathematics from Brooklyn Poly Tech, and received his masters at Steven’s University. He exhibited a thirst for knowledge on many topics and was eager to acquire new skills. His career in the new field of computers covered a wide array of cutting-edge projects and he went on to form his own company, Rana Inc. Starting at age 20, he worked for a number of companies in Southern CA, especially enjoying his work at Ramo-Wooldridge. Returning to New Jersey with a young family, he worked on projects such as programming the betting system at the Meadowlands Arena. At Datatrends he started the ITT Telex Switch, which was a precursor to Email. Terminals all over the world could send messages to one another by typing in a message with the id number to send it to. At his company Rana, he continued to design innovative custom-made computer communication and switching systems, with customers including ITT, the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), and Third Generation Broker (TGB).

Cindy and Chuck shared a love of both travel and photography and captured stunning photos from African safaris to Antarctic penguins, from Sudanese sand dunes to Madagascar’s lemurs. However their passion project began in 2009, capturing the amazing variety of Hummingbirds in Cindy’s native Costa Rica. Entirely new skills were needed to use lighting to capture these birds with amazing detail and all their iridescent beauty. Developing digital software prowess allowed the image to be placed in the perfect artistic setting to showcase each bird, and both became master printers, in order to bring their vision to a final printed form. Their company “Focus Frog” had their images showcased in the National Museum of Costa Rica. Hummingbirds face threats to their existence through loss of habitat, and each picture sold or conversation held at an art show helped champion their cause.

Chuck enjoyed many hobbies over the years from Dixieland Jazz, to deep sea fishing and diving, to cooking fabulous meals. Lots of artistic frogs could be found perched on his shelves among his many, many books. If there was a new technology, he was interested: from sous vide cooking, to designing a smart home, to a fascination with the development towards a self-driving car. With a larger than life personality and irreverent sense of humor, Chuck lived life on his own terms. One of his favorite quotes was by Hunter S. Thompson: “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!”

A celebration of life will be planned by the family in the near future. In lieu of flowers, the family requests a donation to The International Hummingbird Society in Chuck’s memory.