DARYLD DONALD FRITZ
July 8, 1940–May 26, 2025
Daryld Donald Fritz, 84, passed away peacefully at home in Gillette, Wyoming, surrounded by loved ones, on May
26, 2025.
Born July 8, 1940, to Mary Fritz Stapert in Isabel, South Dakota, he attended school in Faith, South Dakota, and Isabel, ending his formal education on the first day of eighth grade. As was common in the years of his youth, he felt he was more useful doing his part helping with the needs of his large family. As a young boy he was well known in his little towns as quite the avid reader, and was seen taking his wagon to the library and filling it as full as he could with books to read, hardly believable to the librarian that this boy was reading that many books. Learning later in life that he had a very high IQ, he boasted that he was, in fact, reading every one of those books and it fueled his learning even though he didn’t have any higher education or degrees.
He left home at 13 and moved in with his older, married sister, Verna, and her husband, Sam (Sonny) Goetz, and worked on their farm. His love and appreciation for them taking him in was huge and expressed through his life. He often spoke of the years he spent with them on their farm and accredited those special years to making him the man he became.
He voluntarily enlisted into the army at the age of 17 and shortly after his 18th birthday, he shipped out to Korea to embark on his life-changing adventure. Throughout the years of his life his military experience was talked about with immense pride and pain, sharing from the heart of a very young man rushed into manhood by the effects of war.
After returning from Korea in 1960, he went to work as an aid at the VA in Sturgis, South Dakota, for 8-and-a-half months. He left that job to accept a position for Homestake Gold Mine, where he would work from 1960-1969. During that time, he met “the only woman he ever loved” and, on Feb. 16, 1963, married June Ardella Unterseher and would love her as his life’s partner until his last breath.
Working and living in Deadwood, South Dakota, for Homestake, they started life together there where their two daughters would later be born. In 1969 the family moved to Newcastle, Wyoming, where he would start his career in the timber. His love of the outdoors and hard work made this one of his favorite jobs, and he always spoke fondly of the years there. As was typical of his larger-than-life personality, he made friends and lifetime relationships. Those memories and stories were shared every chance he got. Although the family was small, life was always big.
Always striving to give June and the girls the very best, he left the timber in 1972 to accept a position at Wyoming Refining Company, getting his GED in his 40s as he climbed the proverbial ladder with the company. He would work for the next 20 years when in 1992 he took early retirement due to multiple knee surgeries. As he did everywhere he worked, he made his way through all the many positions and was respected by all, again forming lifetime relationships.
He knew no stranger, and if you knew him as a friend, co-worker, or family member, there’s sure to be a memory, probably many to make you smile.
The love and pride he had for his family was his greatest joy. Often, in his later years, you could find him staring in adoration, watching the “little” family he and June had created, that was now a large, loud, and chaotic force of “Fritz” nature, tears falling from his big brown eyes as he quietly cherished every face there and would say, “It’s hard to believe this is all because of me and June.”
Daryld is survived by his wife, June of Gillette; daughter, Penny Sander, Gillette; granddaughter, Alisha Fields; great-grandchildren, Ayla, Ayvree, Ayden and Aynslee; granddaughter, Tamra Bruns; great-grandchildren, Kaydence, Camren, Presleigh and Waylon; grandson, John Michael (Hilary) Alleman; great-grandchildren, Joseph Michael and Hailey; granddaughter, Hannah Sander, great-grandchildren, Noah, Ebin, Niya and Salem; Daughter, Tina Fritz, Hot Springs, South Dakota; grandson, Drew Hill; great-granddaughters, Parker and Payzlea; grandson, Ty (Leana) Hill; great-granddaughter, Daisy; sister, Maryann (Jerry) Derby, Sturgis; and many nephews, nieces and friends who loved him dearly.
He was preceded in death by his mother, Maria (Mary) Huber Stapert; Jake Fritz; John Stapert; brothers, Albert, Ervin, Chris and Robert Fritz; sisters, Verna Goetz, Ester Goetz, Betty Williams and Beverly Udiger; and grandson-in-law, Edward Bruns.
The family will be making memorial donations to Hospice and Campbell County Senior Center.
Condolences can be sent to June Fritz, 202 Primrose Dr., Gillette, WY 82716; Penny Sander, 516 Daisy Dr., Gillette, WY 82716; Tina Fritz, 1638 Albany, Hot Springs, SD 57747.
A Celebration of Life was held on Saturday, May 31, at 1 p.m. at Weston County Senior Citizens Center, 627 Pine Street, Newcastle. A private family burial will be held at a later date.