Gerald Tritz

Gerald Tritz

Gerald Tritz, 75, formerly of Kirksville, Mo., passed away Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013, under hospice care, at his home in Sierra Vista, Ariz., with family at his side.

He was the firstborn son of Lester and Frances (Higney) Tritz, born April 12, 1937, in Sioux City, Iowa. On Sept. 3, 1966, in Phoenix, Ariz., he married Judith McVey, who survives him. Also surviving are two sons, Gerald Tritz and wife, Deborah, and their children, Jacob and Samuel, of Jefferson City, Mo., and William Tritz of Tucson, Ariz.

Other survivors include three sisters, Janice Goettsch and her husband, Jack, of Eden Prairie, Minn.; Joan Kastner of Bellevue, Wash.; and Jackie Sawyer of Omaha, Neb.; one brother, Michael Tritz and his wife, Linda, of Sioux City, Iowa; a sister-in-law, Mary Clare Favero, and her husband, Martin, of San Clemente, Calif., and 13 nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents and three infant daughters.

Dr. Tritz was a graduate of Heelan High School in Sioux City and earned his undergraduate degree in wildlife biology from Utah State University in Logan. He worked his way through college by serving in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, as well as unloading produce from rail cars, delivering pharmacy prescriptions, and packaging cookies at a factory in Sioux City. He then continued his education, supported by fellowships, receiving a Master of Science degree from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo., and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Houston, Texas.

He served as chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the A.T. Still University Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine from 1976 through 2003. Earlier in his career, he taught microbiology six years at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., and headed the sterility control laboratory for the U.S. Public Health Service in Cape Kennedy, Fla., from 1965-67, years when the U.S. was in a race with Russia to be the first to land a man on the moon. His job was to ensure the U.S. didn’t contaminate the surface of the moon.

He was named researcher of the year at Georgia in 1974 and selected as outstanding researcher of the year in 1982 by Sigma Sigma Phi, national honorary organization of osteopathic medical students. Awards for teaching included the Gutensohn Merit Award for teaching excellence in 1992.

After retiring in Arizona, he enjoyed traveling throughout the Southwest and Mexico, studying sites occupied by the Anasazi and other native peoples. He was a big fan of Notre Dame football. He highly valued education and encouraged everyone he counseled, including family members, to pursue higher education. Most of all, he loved children and cherished precious moments spent with his two grandsons.

A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday (February 20, 2013) at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in Kirksville, with Father Chris Cordes presiding. Burial will follow in the Mary Immaculate Cemetery in Kirksville.

Visitation with the family will be from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday (February 19, 2013) at the

Davis-Playle-Hudson-Rimer Funeral Home

2100 E. Shepherd Avenue, (Highway 6 East)

Kirksville, MO 665-2233

In memory of Gerald Tritz, donations may be made to the newly established "Gerald Tritz Diabetes Memorial Fund-ATSU/KCOM.” Contributions may be left at or mailed to the Davis-Playle-Hudson-Rimer Funeral Home, 2100 E. Shepherd Avenue, Kirksville, MO 63501.