Attendees came from across the state to honor the ecology and human rights leader, best known as the wife of environmental legend Ned Fritz. Photo by Bud Melton.
By Amy Martin
When a legend passes, the stars come out, and Genie Fritz was certainly a legend. What kind of legend depended on the era from which you knew her.
Fritz passed last December at the age of 100 from respiratory failure at her residence in the Edgemere in Dallas. Her last week was filled with family and friends from First Unitarian of Dallas who sat at her bedside, recalled some of the Fritz family adventures, and sang Girl Scout songs to her.
The following month, the memorial was held at First Unitarian, the same place as her high-spirited 100th birthday party the prior May. On that unusually bright January day, friends and colleagues from many decades of her life traveled from all over the state to pay tribute to a woman who not only made possible every achievement of Ned’s but had many of her own.
Genie’s Legacy List at Ned Fritz Legacy gives an overview of her achievements.
Genie’s Role in Texas Conservation
Ned and Genie founded Texas Committee on Natural Resources, TCONR (spoken as T-conner) in 1966. Long-time executive director Janice Bezanson, who became close friends with the Fritzes, spoke at the memorial of her deep respect and affection for Genie, was on the TCA board and served as TCA treasurer for many years.
“The reason Ned is famous is because he had such a vision for what needed to be done in conservation and how to go about doing it. Genie was an integral part of developing that vision. We all trusted her input. Her calm reflection gave stability to the new young conservation movement. She was the one that kept the thread, provided the stability that helped us to actually do things we needed to do,” said Bezanson.
Bezanson husband confided that, “She’s the kind of person that everyone should be. We were all blessed to know her and learn from her.”
TCONR was vital in efforts to preserve Big Thicket and East Texas forests. An ace at river advocacy, TCONR fought against rivers being dammed by for-profit enterprises and other ecological devastations such as the proposed canalization of the Trinity, which was put to rest by a vote in 1973.
TCA board member and close friend Richard Grayson, known for his river advocacy, said “Genie and Ned understood and taught the importance of connection between healthy, free flowing streams and the forests and prairies watered by them. They inspired me.”
Genie was featured in the KERA documentary Living With The Trinity on the Trinity barge canal fight. Representing KERA at the memorial were Sylvia Komatsu, Chief Content and Diversity Officer, and Amy Hinojosa, Director of Content Operations.
One of those aided by TCONR was real estate billionaire Trammell Crow, Sr, who had a large section of land shared with other families. The forested wetlands were threatened by an ill-conceived Trinity reservoir project. TCONR and Ned fought to have the reservoir location moved. The land, with its unique floating glade, was spared.
Genie edited and produced every TCONR newsletter and many hundreds of legal documents, articles, and press releases, until the group grew large enough to afford staff. Even then, she was deeply involved in its operations.
TCONR Becomes Texas Conservation Alliance with Genie as Link
After Ned’s passage in 2008, TCONR was re-named Texas Conservation Alliance (TCA). As a continuance of TCONR, for over 50 years TCA has led important conservation efforts on behalf of forests, rivers, and more.
TCONR/TCA luminaries who were present at the memorial to honor Genie included current executive director Grahame Jones and chairman of the TCA board Justin Lannen, who both came in from Austin. Former executive director, Beth Johnson, arrived from East Texas..
Former TCA board chair and long-time friend, David Gray, shared that “Genie always welcomed us into her home for Ned’s meetings with snacks and drinks. Then, when the action planning and discussion came to a standstill, as it often does, she’d ask us impatiently, ‘Well, what are you going to do?’ She held us accountable!”
Gray’s wife Nancy Bateman administers the Ned Fritz Scholarship program at First Unitarian. She remembered that “After Ned died, I got to chauffeur Genie to TCA events. I loved hearing her stories about the things they did. She had an amazing sense of direction and could navigate us to every park, reserve, or campground in the state.”
Other TCONR/TCA stalwarts in attendance included Bud Melton, well-known environment and trails proponent whose wife Annie was a TCONR executive director; David Marquis, activist, author and playwright; and arts and eco mover and shaker Kathleen Irvin Loughlin, who came in from Austin.
Texas Land Trusts: Genie’s Legacy
Genie and Ned also founded the Natural Areas Preservation Association, the first Texas-focused land trust. It began with a purchase of 50 acres in the Big Thicket that they dubbed Catahoula Forest Preserve.
Some of Genie’s cremains will be interred at Catahoula by her family over the Memorial Day weekend, joining Ned’s which are also there.
Now known as Texas Land Conservancy (TLC), the land trust has grown to protect over 165,000 acres. Its executive director, Mark Steinbach, traveled from Austin to honor Genie.
“Her compassion, determination, and intellect inspired countless individuals to join the fight for conservation,” stated the organization at her passing.
Genie served on the TLC board in various positions for decades, but primarily as treasurer. When she stepped away from the board in her 80s, TLC gave her a plaque with heartfelt words. It remained on her wall until shortly before her passing.
Amber Arseneaux, formerly the North Texas regional manager for TLC, came from Cleburne. She’s now executive director of Native Prairies Association of Texas and credits Genie as a major inspiration.
Honored by Environmental Advocates Across the Board
As Bezanson said, “It was like environmental old-home week.”
Ned and Genie had a long relationship with the Dallas Sierra Club. Environmental activists from the group who came to pay tribute to Genie included Rita Beving and her husband, David Griggs.
In 1970, Ned formed Save Open Space (SOS), a group focused on Dallas County nature preservation. Kathleen Matsumura and Susan Grundy, friends of Genie, attended in her honor. At the service, not long after SOS fully folded, Grundy presented a check containing its assets Nancy Bateman and the Ned Fritz Scholarship.
The first person to visit Genie after Ned passed away, was Trammell Crow. He and his father were deeply fond of Genie as a gracious and cultured woman. Attending her memorial in his stead were EarthX executives Steve Evans and Lanny Shivers.
Genie as Social Justice Warrior
After Genie’s passage, her daughters recently discovered a letter where she wrote that her civic volunteer work was her most important achievement. She wanted to be remembered as “a supportive, responsible person in civic affairs.”
I was proud to represent that side of Genie at the memorial in my talk, drawing from material gleaned from my research for Ned Fritz Legacy, a website biography of the couple created with Kristi Kerr Leonard and my husband, Scooter Smith.
As Genie’s Legacy List shows, Genie had a rich activist life prior to her environmental work with Ned. She was a legend in the League of Women Voters Dallas, serving in a multitude of positions from local to national to international in Latin America.
With her League of Women Voters (LWV) tours of Mexico and Latin America, Genie drew from her maternal family’s impressive roots in that region as well as Texas. Their storied history is kept in the state archives.
Rev. Beth Dana of First Unitarian of Dallas, who gave the eulogy at Genie’s memorial, shared that “One of the most surprising things I learned about Genie was how her childhood in Latin America and experiences of racism and class prejudice there awakened her political conscience.”
Perhaps no one’s attendance at the memorial represented Genie’s social justice warrior side than Mary Vogelson. A member of SOS and LWV, they were also active members and leaders at First Unitarian. Genie held positions in the church’s Social Action Council and Women’s Day Alliance.
Said Vogelson: “Genie was proud of the work she did as president of the League of Women Voters Dallas. She also fought long and hard to eliminate the poll tax and on behalf of renters rights in the state, and headed the fair-housing fight in the city for many years on behalf of the LWV Dallas.
As a LWV Dallas leader of long standing, former Texas State Representative Harryette Ehrhardt’s presence at the memorial reminded of Genie’s shared passion with Ned of democracy and political discussion.
Concluded Rev. Dana, “Genie was a beloved celebrity at First Unitarian for almost 80 years. She lent her voice as an early member and eventually chair of the church’s Social Action Council. She was deeply involved in leadership of the Women’s Day Alliance and served as President of the church’s Board of Trustees. She found a spiritual home here.”
Fidelity to Family
But most important to Genie was her family. With Ned, she had four daughters, Gayle J Fritz of Missouri (married to Mark E. Esarey), Judy F. Gaskell of California (married to Mark L. Gaskell), and Eileen F. McKee of Dallas. Linda F. Gardner, who resided in England with her husband, both died several years ago, a heartbreaking time for all. Genie’s nine grandchildren, fifteen great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren brought great joy to her life.
At the memorial, her grandsons Steven and Kevin Gardner, shared how “No matter how busy, she had time for her grandchildren. We had adventures of all kinds. Wherever we went with her, we always felt safe and loved. She spoke to us directly, treating us with respect and explaining things as if we were grown-ups.”
Daughter Eileen McKee spoke of Genie’s cultural side. Genie was an accomplished pianist and accompanist. After a long day, Genie would sit down at the piano and play everything from classical Rachmaninoff to Cole Porter. Ned and Genie ensured there was always music playing in the house. Genie held season tickets for a wide array of performing arts, and if she couldn’t go she shared the tickets with others.
Rounding out the memorial were Genie’s favorite poems by Ned read by Gayle and Judy, Genie’s favorite songs as performed on piano by First Unitarian Director of Music Grant Wareham, and a song performed by Genie’s longtime caregiver, Naomi Wright.
- Article on memorial at Green Source DFW.
- See a video of Genie’s memorial.
- Read The Life and Legend of Genie Fritz at Ned Fritz Legacy.
