John (Jack) Alden Fritchey III, age 70.

John Alden Fritchey III, of Spring, Texas, died May 15th, 2013, of complications resulting from a March 5th stroke. 

John was born on March 24th, 1943, in Olney, Illinois, the son of John Alden Fritchey (Olney Township High School, Class of 1938) and Patricia Clare La Casse.  Both of John’s parents are deceased, his father passing in 2004 and his mother in 2006.  John had a brother, Philip, and two surviving sisters, Pamela Fritchey, of Sun City, Arizona, and Ann Marie Sherwin, of Naperville, Illinois.

John is survived by his wife of 30 years, Charmaine Rue (Brewer) Fritchey and his sons from a previous marriage: John Alden Fritchey IV, of Chicago, and granddaughter Alexia

 And Jon Anthony Bradbury, of Terre Haute, Indiana, with his wife Shanna Bradbury; children granddaughter, Jaylen, grandsons Christian and Vaiden.

John attended Olney schools through his junior year at East Richland High School.

He joined the Air Force in March of 1960. Pretty much traveled the world ending up in Viet Nam in 1968 where he was awarded two Bronze Stars, one with 'V' device.

After the military, he spent 2 years with RCA International Service on a missile tracking ship mostly in the South Pacific with a couple of side trips to the Bering Sea.

Then it was 15 years with Motorola before becoming an independent contractor and business consultant up to his retirement in 1998.

In 2011, he accepted the position of Veterans’ Administrator for the Tiger Alumni Center, an alumni organization for the East Richland High School, Olney, Illinois.  As such, he created the veterans affairs services which included his “Wall of Appreciation” listing hundreds of ERHS alumni veterans.  

He not only single-handedly created and developed the vet services, he also worked with the other TAC administrators offering new services and imaginative approaches to ERHS alumni services.  One highlight of these was the April, 2012, reunion held in Spring, Texas, for all alumni living in the region, hosted by him and his wife Charmaine.

John held his position with the Tiger Alumni Center until his death.  He is missed.

To see John's Veterans Wall of Appreciation page, click this link  http://www.erhsalumni.net/class_gallery.cfm?gallery_link_id=11016

Richard Williams

June 27^th, 2013