Mary Ann Fritz

Mary Ann Fritz, 88, of Jonesboro, passed from this life on February 27, 2019 at the NEA Hospital. Mary Ann Fritz was the second daughter born to Raymond and Velma Mae Powers in Jonesboro in 1931. She was a cheerleader at Jonesboro High School and graduated in 1948. Her first child, Boetta, was born in 1951. Ann worked for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company and was the first to order long distance direct dial equipment in the nation. Her second child, Bill, was born in 1957. She moved to Memphis in 1968, then to Augusta, Georgia for 7 years, and then back to Jonesboro.

Ann loved life and loved many things.  She loved music and loved to dance at any opportunity. She was gifted with an artistic eye and could draw and paint beautifully. She often volunteered as room mother and loved to help with art projects, especially at Christmas. She was an avid reader, with often 2 to 3 books going at the same time. Cooking was her passion, and she was especially known for baking Italian cream cakes, Texas chocolate sheet cakes, and monkey bread. She had a tender heart and would often take in stray animals in the winter, and feed feral cats and birds year around.  Ann was a devout Episcopalian for all her life, loved God and her church. She loved to travel, especially with her family. In 1995, she and Bill took a dream vacation to China. Ann had always been a fighter, even though she was plagued with a lot of health issues. She faced each challenge with determination and grace. She depended upon her faith to keep her strong, and would always say, “I can do this.”

Ann is preceded in death by her parents, Raymond and Velma Mae Powers, and her sister, Barbara Webb. She is survived by her daughter, Boetta Forbes and her husband, Robert Forbes of Conroe, Texas, and her son, Bill Fritz, and his wife, Connie Hiers, MD of San Antonio, Texas, and her granddaughter, Katie Saunders, MD and great grandchildren, Abby and Conner Burdick of San Antonio, Texas.

Funeral services will be 11:00 AM Saturday, March 9, 2019 at St. Marks Episcopal Church with Reverend Josuah Daniels, PhD and Eulogist, Connie Hiers, MD officiating. Emerson Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.  Burial will be private with Mauri Cole, Robert Forbes, Roger Franks, Charles Stone, Jim Watkins, And Jim Webb, MD serving as honorary pallbearers. Visitation will be from 10:00 until service time at St. Marks.  To sign an online guestbook, go to emersonfuneralhome.com.