Norfolk City Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Fritzinger, Edward Gerald "Gerry" February 24, 1945
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Dorothy Strawhand http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00034.html#0008405 March 19, 2024, 4:44 pm

Norfolk Virginian Pilot February 25, 1945

                  SAND CAVE-IN KILLS BOY, 9. at OCEAN VIEW

      Edward G. Fritzinger, of 410 Farrell Avenue, Suffocates at Play

Buried under an avalanche of sand, Edward Gerald ("Gerry") Fritzinger, nine-
year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. E. Fritzinger, of 410 Farrell Avenue, was smothered 
to death in a tunnel he and the neighborhood boys had dug in a sand dune at the 
east end of Kingston Avenue, East Ocean View, yesterday about noon, providing a 
tragic climax of what started out to be a Saturday afternoon beach picnic.
Gerry and his six-year-old brother, Mickey, and Buster Ward, 8, who lives next 
door, were very fond of taking their lunch out on the sand hills on warm 
afternoons and playing in the sand, Gerry's mother said last night. Yesterday 
they had packed their lunches and set out for the grounds about 11 a.m., with 
instructions to return by 4 p.m. at the latest.
Buster said that Gerry had seen some bigger boys digging tunnels in the dunes 
and decided to try it himself. He recalled last night that he warned Gerry not 
to dig any deeper but then went with Mickey to play on another part of the sand.
"When we returned, we saw the hole caved in," he said, "but we thought that 
Gerry had jumped on it and was hiding from us."
After looking around in vain for some time, they returned to the Fritzinger 
home, where they told Mrs. Lillian Borte, Gerry's sister, that they could not 
find Gerry.
                             Sister Discovers Head
Mrs. Borte said that she went with Mickey back to the dunes and after a 45 
minute search of the area, noticed the cave-in. Mickey confirmed the story that 
Gerry had been playing in the tunnel and Mrs. Borte started digging in the sand. 
Soon she uncovered part of the boy's head and called for help from two men who 
lived on Kingston Avenue. After further digging they released the body from its 
entombment.
Coroner's Investigator Leon Nowitzky said that the boy had been dead for 
approximately an hour when the body was unearthed. Coroner C.D.J. MacDonald 
pronounced him dead from accidental suffocation and said that no inquest would 
be necessary.
Gerry was a pupil in the third grade at the Holy Trinity School and would have 
been 10 years old next month. Besides his parents, he is survived by his 
brother, Mickey and a sister, Mrs. Lillian Borte. The body was taken to the H.D. 
Oliver Funeral Apartments.
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FRITZINGER, EDWARD GERALD - On Saturday afternoon, February 24, 1945, EDWARD 
GERALD, son of Eli and Mrs. Lillian Martin Fritzinger, in the 10th year of his 
age. Remains will be taken from the residence, No. 410 Farrell Street, to Holy 
Trinity Catholic Church, Ocean View, for services, TUESDAY MORNING at 10 
o'clock. Friends of the family are invited to attend. Interment, St. Mary's 
Cemetery.

Norfolk Virginian Pilot February 26, 1945


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