Fr. Christopher Raymond Fritter, OP

The second of four children, Raymond Fritter was born in Chico, California, on March 28, 1923.  Although raised in a Christian environment, he was not baptized until a few years later, when the family had moved to San Jose.  He attended St.  Leo's School, stating that "those nuns will never convert me," but by May of 1933, he was baptized a Catholic.

After graduating from Bellarmine High, he joined the Army in the midst of World War II.  He saw duty in the South Pacific as a gunner on the B-17s.  It was the long, noisy bombing runs over Japan that began to deteriorate his hearing.  Years later, he discovered that our Fr. Leo Thomas had been stationed in Okinawa at precisely the same time.

After the war, Raymond attended Santa Clara for a year and then transferred to San Jose State, from which he graduated in 1949.  During his college years, he worked part-time in a haberdashery renting tuxedos, and later set up his own business for a year.  Renting tuxedos, however, did not prove exciting enough and in August of 1950 he entered the novitiate at Kentfield, receiving the name Christopher.  Novitiate life was not easy for him, and he showed the quality of perseverance under difficulty that was to see him later on through challenging assignments.   Studies did not come easy through his years of formation, but he found enjoyment in being photographer for "The Dominican," a province vocational magazine of that period.

Chris was notorious for his inevitable puns and his great social charm.  He loved singing old Broadway musical numbers, fishing, camping, skiing and being part of the innocent joy of jovial gatherings of song and humor.  Ordained in 1956, he began a series of brief assignments to our parishes in Seattle, Benicia, Antioch and San Francisco.  In 1961, he was asked to replace the late Fr. William McClory as chaplain of the Oregon State Prison, and he found this no easy task.  Typically, he reached out for help and guidance from others and made of his  six years there a time of dedication and service.

It was at this time that he established a deep and lasting friendship with Fr. Joe Beno, a diocesan priest then stationed in Salem.  In 1967, the Provincial, Fr. Hubert Ward, asked Chris to serve as province treasurer.  During his six years in another difficult job, Chris was humorously known for his financial pie charts to explain province expenditures, and he became adept at trading automobiles.  Finally, in 1973, he was allowed to return to parochial work, taking up residence at St. Dominic's in Benicia where he spent all but the last year of his life, first as assistant pastor for five years, and then as Pastor and Superior for six years.   During this time, he did a great deal of work on the renovation and improvement of the province cemetery.

Sociable by nature, he found the Marriage Encounter Movement much to his liking and devoted much time to that.  At the same time that he pursued his own family roots, he also traced the early historical roots of the province, tracking down the location and photographs of our first house in Monterey.  His work completed in Benicia, Chris set out in 1983 with his friend Fr. Beno on a sabbatical year pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  It was a glorious trip for them both, and on his return, Chris stopped off to spend a semester with the Dominicans in Washington, D.C.  It was in the following spring that the doctors discovered he was seriously ill with cancer of the liver.

Chris returned to live for a short while with the brethren at St. Dominic's in The City, and his final three weeks were spent at St. Anne's Home where he was beautifully cared for by the Little Sisters of the Poor.  Visited by countless friends and former parishioners, Chris met them as best he could with courage and humor.  On one occasion, Chris mentioned to one of the fathers that he was free for the Lord.  He died peacefully on the morning of May 18, 1985, and is buried in Benicia in the cemetery he worked so diligently to beautify.

--Fr. Paul Scanlon, O.P.

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