James McIlroy Fritz ’39

A leading thoracic surgeon in the Southwest, Jim died Nov. 16, 1998, of a heart attack in Tucson, Ariz. Leaving Princeton at the end of junior year, Jim earned his BS at the U. of Chicago and his MD at that university's School of Medicine. A USNR lieutenant, he was on active duty as a battalion surgeon with the 1st Marine Division, serving in the South Pacific from 1943-46. For the next few years he was an instructor in surgery at the U. of Chicago. With two partners he opened a practice in Tucson which specialized in cardiac and pulmonary surgery. Jim was understandably proud that they opened the first isotope lab and the first cardiac diagnostic lab in Tucson and that they performed the first successful open-heart surgery in Arizona. He was president of the Southern Arizona Heart Assn. and the Arizona chapter of the American College of Chest Physicians and a director of Union Bank of Tucson.

Jim's wife, Nancy Frudden, died several years ago. Surviving are their son James R. and daughters Nancy Jan Wilson, Judy McLung, and Heidi, and five grandchildren. We offer them our sincere sympathy.

The Class of 1939