CAROL DOZIER SPRINKEL FRITZE - Advocate for the mentally disabled

Carol Dozier Sprinkel Fritze spent her adult life helping others, especially those who were mentally challenged.

She taught at the Denton State School, where she helped students with mental and physical disabilities put on musicals. In the 1960s, she introduced special education programs for emotionally disturbed students in Dallas public schools.

And she administered special education teachers in Richardson schools before leading the Special Care School in Farmers Branch to help break down job barriers for the mentally retarded.

Ms. Fritze, 72, died July 5 at her Dallas home of complications from recently diagnosed cancers.

Graveside services were Tuesday at Restland Memorial Park. A celebration of her life was Tuesday at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Dallas.

"Her big thing in life was serving others," said her daughter, Sharon Madlena of Carrollton.

Ms. Fritze arranged to continue helping others even in death. She left a note in her well-stocked pantry directing the items be donated to the food pantry at North Dallas Shared Ministries, her daughter said.

While Ms. Fritze is known to many for continuing her volunteer efforts after her December 1997 retirement, many others appreciate her for her professional accomplishments.

Her years of leadership have had lasting positive effects on the cause of children and adults with developmental disabilities, said Cathy Packard, executive director of the Special Care & Career Services Center (formerly the Special Care School) in Farmers Branch.

In 1976, Ms. Fritze joined the center as associate director. She was named executive director in 1978 and held that position until her retirement.

Some consider her program to help the mentally retarded find competitive jobs her greatest achievement.

In the early 1980s, Ms. Fritze's school began placing mentally retarded people in full- and part-time competitive jobs in a nonprotected environment.

"Sometimes the hard part is just trying to get the employers to let us tour their businesses to see what we can offer them," Ms. Fritze said in 1987. "We have to break down the barriers they think they have toward hiring the mentally retarded."

The concept was extraordinarily revolutionary at the time, Ms. Packard said.

"Before that, most of the thinking was they could only work in a workshop environment, unless they were very high-functioning," Ms. Packard said.

Ms. Fritze was born in Tulsa, Okla., and grew up in Houston, where she graduated from Lamar High School. She received a bachelor's degree in home economics from Austin College in Sherman.

At Austin College, she was president of Theta Phi Delta sorority and a member of the Alpha Chi honor society. She was a homecoming princess and an associate justice of the student court.

In 1956, she married Raymond Sprinkel. They later divorced.

Ms. Fritze taught in the Carroll Independent School District before joining the Denton State School staff.

While in Denton, she earned a master's degree in special education at what is now the University of North Texas.

In the mid-1960s, Ms. Fritze - Carol Sprinkel at the time - helped establish a pilot program for emotionally disturbed students at Longfellow Elementary School in Dallas.

The program was one of the first six in Texas created by the state Legislature in 1963.

She was with the Richardson school district before joining the Special Care School.

Ms. Fritze was an active member of Westminster Presbyterian Church.

"My mom was on every committee ever formed," her daughter said. "That's how my mom showed her faith."

Her husband of 27 years, Julius Fritze, died in August 1999.

In addition to her daughter, Ms. Fritze is survived by two sons, Reed Sprinkel of Bedford and Gregg Sprinkel of Carrollton; nine grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Special Care & Career Center, 4350 Sigma Road, Suite 100, Farmers Branch, Texas 75224; or Westminster Presbyterian Church, 8200 Devonshire Drive, Dallas, Texas 75209.

Dallas Morning News, The (TX) - July 12, 2008

GRETCHEN LOUISE FRINK
NOV. 28, 1958 - APR. 20, 1975

Restland Memorial Park, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas