2008 Woodie Awards
FM mechanic gave time, donations
By: Phil Hornshaw
Issue date: 11/7/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
One thing that struck Crystal Fetzner as she was helping her mother-in-law Katrinka Fetzner with her finances last week was how many donations were among the bills.
But that's the kind of man Katrinka's husband, John Fetzner, was, Crystal said.
John Fetzner died Oct. 27 of complications related to pulmonary hypertension. He was 54.
Crystal Fetzner said she could think of only one way to describe her father-in-law.
"Only one word comes to mind: giving," Crystal Fetzner said.
John Fetzner worked as a maintenance mechanic at CMU for the past five months with Facilities Management. Before that, he spent 30 years working as a mechanic for General Motors.
He was active in St. Mary Catholic Church in Westphalia, where he was currently Parish Council president.
Crystal Fetzner said if there was anything that needed to be done at the church, John Fetzner would be there to do it.
"He was like an unpaid maintenance man," she said. "Once I remember he was crawling under the church to fix something, and the whole family was upset, 'why are you crawling under the church?' It needed to be done, so he did it."
Katrinka Fetzner said one of the priests once described John Fetzner as "a holy man who didn't know he was holy."
"He was a very loving man who would do anything for anybody," she said.
John Fetzner loved the ocean and reading, two things he got plenty of at a family vacation in North Carolina during the Labor Day holiday, Crystal Fetzner said.
It was partially on the trip that John and his family realized the severity of what they would later discover was pulmonary hypertension, or high blood pressure in John's lungs.
"He only went in the water once that entire trip. This is a man who loved the ocean," Crystal Fetzner said. "He was so short of breath that the waves were beating him up and making it hard for him to breathe. He was afraid he would drown."
The shortness of breath led to doctors discovering a hole in John Fetzner's heart, which they said had been there his entire life, Crystal Fetzner said.
The family still is waiting for the completion of an autopsy to find out the final cause of his death.
"He was really active, so it was surprising when he passed," Crystal Fetzner said. "He had three grandchildren - one that's 4 and two that are 2 - and we have pictures of them all wrestling."
John Fetzner is survived by his wife, Katrinka Fetzner; daughter Carrie (Phil) Ramirez, of Dewitt; son Matthew (Crystal) Fetzner of New Orleans, La.; three grandchildren, Oscar and Isaiah Ramirez and Riley Fetzner; father Victor Fetzner, of Breckinridge; two sisters, Margaret Fowler, of Westphalia, and Vicki (Doug) Aldrich, of Wheeler; and brother Rex (Terri) Fetzner, of Ohio.
news@cm-life.com
But that's the kind of man Katrinka's husband, John Fetzner, was, Crystal said.
John Fetzner died Oct. 27 of complications related to pulmonary hypertension. He was 54.
Crystal Fetzner said she could think of only one way to describe her father-in-law.
"Only one word comes to mind: giving," Crystal Fetzner said.
John Fetzner worked as a maintenance mechanic at CMU for the past five months with Facilities Management. Before that, he spent 30 years working as a mechanic for General Motors.
He was active in St. Mary Catholic Church in Westphalia, where he was currently Parish Council president.
Crystal Fetzner said if there was anything that needed to be done at the church, John Fetzner would be there to do it.
"He was like an unpaid maintenance man," she said. "Once I remember he was crawling under the church to fix something, and the whole family was upset, 'why are you crawling under the church?' It needed to be done, so he did it."
Katrinka Fetzner said one of the priests once described John Fetzner as "a holy man who didn't know he was holy."
"He was a very loving man who would do anything for anybody," she said.
John Fetzner loved the ocean and reading, two things he got plenty of at a family vacation in North Carolina during the Labor Day holiday, Crystal Fetzner said.
It was partially on the trip that John and his family realized the severity of what they would later discover was pulmonary hypertension, or high blood pressure in John's lungs.
"He only went in the water once that entire trip. This is a man who loved the ocean," Crystal Fetzner said. "He was so short of breath that the waves were beating him up and making it hard for him to breathe. He was afraid he would drown."
The shortness of breath led to doctors discovering a hole in John Fetzner's heart, which they said had been there his entire life, Crystal Fetzner said.
The family still is waiting for the completion of an autopsy to find out the final cause of his death.
"He was really active, so it was surprising when he passed," Crystal Fetzner said. "He had three grandchildren - one that's 4 and two that are 2 - and we have pictures of them all wrestling."
John Fetzner is survived by his wife, Katrinka Fetzner; daughter Carrie (Phil) Ramirez, of Dewitt; son Matthew (Crystal) Fetzner of New Orleans, La.; three grandchildren, Oscar and Isaiah Ramirez and Riley Fetzner; father Victor Fetzner, of Breckinridge; two sisters, Margaret Fowler, of Westphalia, and Vicki (Doug) Aldrich, of Wheeler; and brother Rex (Terri) Fetzner, of Ohio.
news@cm-life.com
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