If you drank beer, he probably delivered it. Remembering Bob Fritz
.jpeg "At left, Bob Fritz is shown in 1970, when he opened a new warehouse and moved the headquarters of his beer distributing business, Robert “Chick” Fritz, Inc., to Belleville. At right is his recent obituary photo.")
Many metro-east taverns were still using iceboxes in 1947, when Robert G. Fritz founded his beer distributing company in Mascoutah, so he delivered big blocks of ice along with the kegs.
His son, Robert L. Fritz, later took over the business, moved it to Belleville, modernized with the times, expanded brands and territory and turned Robert “Chick” Fritz, Inc. into one of the largest beer distributors in Illinois south of Chicago.
Known as “Chick” like his father, Bob Fritz died April 28 at age 86. He had never fully recovered from a fall in January, according to his son, Robert G. “Bobby” Fritz, who serves as company president. But he was working several days a week, talking to customers and salesmen, making good on the company’s tagline, “Your friendly distributor.”
The family held a private funeral Mass. The community is invited to a public celebration of life from noon to 6 p.m. June 28 at the Scheve Park train depot in Mascoutah.
“He just wanted everybody to have a beer,” said Bobby Fritz, 60. “That’s all he wanted.”
While Bob Fritz was earning a reputation as a successful businessman, many people didn’t realize the extent of his community activism. He served on a long list of boards and committees for charitable causes.
He co-founded Belleville Oktoberfest in 1980 and Belleville Sister Cities in 1990. His daughter, Anne Fritz, remembers him and his wife, Ruth Fritz, traveling to Germany several times for the latter, setting up cultural exchanges with the city of Paderborn.
“He was good friends with Mayor (Richard) Brauer,” she said.
Bob Fritz was a longtime member of Mascoutah Improvement Association – which sponsors Mascoutah Homecoming – but he didn’t just work behind the scenes. He ran the potato pancake stand for the local Moose lodge.
He was also instrumental in making a 200-foot-long bratwurst for Belleville’s bicentennial in 2014, along with Schubert’s Packing Co. in Millstadt and 10th Street Baking Co. Lindenwood University football players helped place the meat in a trough-like grill.
“He was super proud of that,” said Anne Fritz, 47, who handles marketing for Fritz distributing. “It was such a fun day.”
Charisma came in handy
People often use the word “charismatic” to describe Bob Fritz, a characteristic that apparently came in handy when he was trying to recruit people to work on community projects.
St. Clair County Board Chairman and former Belleville Mayor Mark Kern said he had “a twinkle in his eye.” Kern likened him to Tom Sawyer, who famously persuaded other boys in the neighborhood to accept the privilege of whitewashing his aunt’s fence.
Kern met Bob Fritz in the early 1990s through Oktoberfest. He assigned Kern to a crew making apple butter, an arduous process that involved peeling and cutting apples and stirring the pot all night.
“Bob Fritz was good at getting people to do things — fun things, interesting things — in his effort to improve the community,” Kern said.
Bob Fritz used some of the same skills in business, according to Kern. He took time to visit bars and restaurants personally, developing friendships with owners and managers.
Kern called him an “exceptional man.”
“He knew the business, and he certainly knew beer,” Kern said. “Being the Stag distributor in the home of Stag, Bob was intimately involved in this community from the start.”
Ray Famula, 75, of Millstadt, worked as a salesman at Fritz distributing for 11 years, handling 153 customer accounts. He retired 10 years ago, but one story stands out in his mind.
Bob Fritz used to take employees on long-distance fishing trips to show his appreciation for their hard work. At one point, Famula told Bobby Fritz that he wasn’t much of an outdoorsman, so he didn’t want them to waste their money on him.
“Bobby came back to me a couple days later and said, ‘My dad said you’re going. He wants you to go on that trip whether you fish or not,’” Famula recalls. “He didn’t care. He wanted me to be included. That’s the kind of people they were. They took care of their boys. They treated us like family. ... It was the best job I ever had.”
Daily trek to breweries
Bob Fritz’s father originally worked for Schopp Distributing in Mascoutah. After owner Fred Schopp died, he bought the business in 1947 and renamed it Robert “Chick” Fritz, Inc.
In the early days, Robert G. Fritz and his young son went to Belleville breweries every day, picked up kegs of Stern Brau, Oldtimer and Stag beers and delivered them to taverns. The company brought Miller products to the region in the 1950s and Coors in the 1980s and expanded with other brands, including European imports.
The company opened a new warehouse and moved to Belleville in 1970 and later added warehouses in Alton and Springfield. Bob Fritz lived in unincorporated Belleville. Bobby Fritz lives in Belleville. The company has about 150 employees who distribute nearly five million cases of beer each year.
What kind of beer did Bob Fritz drink?
“He drank a lot of Stag because it was brewed here in Belleville, but every brand that we represented he was proud of,” Bobby Fritz said.
According to his obituary with Moll Funeral Home in Mascoutah, Bob Fritz was a founding board member of Citizens Community Bank and president of Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois. He also was involved with Cerebral Palsy of Southwestern Illinois, National Beer Wholesalers Association and Belle-Scott Committee.
Beyond business and community service, he was known as a conservationist who enjoyed hunting, fishing and traveling. He’s survived by his wife, four children and seven grandchildren.
Memorials can be made to Ducks Unlimited or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the obituary states.
“The person that people saw in public, we had him as a dad,” Anne Fritz said. “He was just such a dynamic person, and he was our biggest cheerleader. He always pushed you to do your best.”
