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Fred Getz, 1958 - 2004
Frederick "Fred" Ross Getz, age 45, of Manassas, Virginia died Sunday June 13, 2004 due to injuries received in an auto accident. He is survived by his wife, Donna Getz; his children, Tiffany, Karen and David Getz; his mother, Aldene Getz; one brother, Floyd Getz; and many other family and friends. Fred Getz was originally diagnosed with Von Recklinghausen's at the age of 14. This diagnosis was later revised to Neurofibromatosis, and then when NF was divided into type 1 and type 2, Fred was told he had NF2. When it was time for college, Fred attended Penn State University. He came to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior during that time and his faith would get him through many years of dealing with a very tough case of NF2. Three months after coming to Christ, Fred lost his hearing. He was 19 years old. He then transferred to Rochester Institute of Technology where he received a B. A. in Computer Science and met and married his wife, Donna. Fred and Donna had three children, Tiffany, Karen, and David. Tiffany and David inherited NF2. For several years, the family was involved in a research program at NIH. They spent much time trying to find the best care and make wise decisions for all three members with NF2. As a result of the family's experiences, many opportunities arose to share information and support with others who also were challenged by NF2. Since NF2 is so rare, much of the support was either via phone calls or online. At different times over the years, both Fred and Donna were very involved with the online support group known as the NF2 Crew. Fred was the Crew's webmaster at the time of his death. NF2 had taken a great physical toll on Fred. He had literally lost count of how many surgeries he had over the years. There were at least 5 brain surgeries and 4 spinal surgeries just to name a few. Fred fought hard to regain his strength each time NF2 knocked him down. He returned to work time and time again, often to the surprise of all those around him. In 1998 Fred returned to work in a wheelchair after a surgery had partially paralyzed his right leg. In 2002, after a brian surgery and spinal surgery followed by a stroke and many other complications, Fred finally was benched. His care needs were too much to allow him to return to his job. He still had hope he would be able to go back to work though, talking enthusiastically about it the very week before his death. Fred always wanted to work and support his family financially. He hated being labeled "disabled." For the first 4 of the years Fred was in his wheelchair, when he met new people they would often assume he was at home living on disability. He would often proudly declare to them loud and clear, "No! I work!" After his 2002 surgeries did disable him, he worked on regaining the use of his hands and computer skills at home by helping out with the website his church had and with the NF2 Crew's site, of which-as mentioned earlier-he became the webmaster. He prayed often for his friends on the Crew as well as many others. On June 13th, on the way to church, a van ran a red light and turned into the path of our family's van. With only about 30 feet between us and driving at 40-45 mph, there was no time to stop and no way to avoid a collision. We had prepared ourselves to lose Fred to a brain tumor or post-op complication, but never expected this to be his end. He was knocked unconscious in the accident and woke up hours later in the arms of God. Fred was a wonderful and dedicated father and husband. He truly loved his family and we loved him. We miss him now, but are confident that he is in heaven enjoying time with the Lord Jesus Christ - whom he loved so much and longed to see. We -- his family -- look forward to the day when we will see Fred again! Fred's funeral was held on Thursday, June 17th. At that time, we requested that any who wished to do so contribute to either of the following in his memory: The Fred Getz NF2 Fund Occoquan Bible Church (Building Fund) If you would like to read tributes to Fred by his friends and eulogies written by his wife and two of his three children, or would like to write a tribute or memory for his family you may do so by going to: http://obc.org and typing his name into the search feature of the site. |
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