Announcement @ 27 Feb 2020

To all my friends and family, especially those in the CF community, I am sad to tell you of the passing of my son, Frank Gritzmacher early this morning. He went quietly and peacefully, as he wanted, finally drawing his last breath.

So many comments about him being a fighter, and that’s true, but even more he was a winner. He met CF head on and never felt sorry for himself. He spent a lot of time in hospitals, but didn’t get angry, he made friends. Everywhere he went, the staff loved him. They were his immediate-temporary family.

They told his brother he’d live to be 10. He more than tripled that. Frank almost quadrupled it. When he got his lung transplant, he was like a new person, born-again. It was so good to see him enjoy life again, to travel, to dance, to have a job, and all those things some of us take for granted. He was given a few more good years and never looked back. Even when his second lungs began to give out, he accepted it on his own terms and found a way to live and enjoy life, playing video games, following football, and hanging out with all his friends.

He has amazing friends. They banded together to find a way to get him through his transplant and all the expenses that entailed. They supported him in every way from encouragement to fund raising to just being there and listening. He could not – we could not – have done it without you.

So, Frank was a winner. He cheated death for an extra 4-5 years and left on his terms. He was not sad. We should not be either.

At some point, when we can work out details, we will have a memorial celebration and I’ll try to let everyone know. Please keep an eye on FB and let each other know when it’s announced so no one gets left out.