Fritsch: Tackled by fate

In 1945, Dad had an injury to his knee, and of course you go to the hospital, and you get it taken care of. He had an X-ray done,” explained Ted Fritsch’s son, Tom.

“In 1946, he had that reoccurring injury, and of course it was a Bears game at home, so he had, I guess, to get a second x-ray on the knee. And lo and behold, it was the same x-ray technician that did his first x-ray.”
That technician was Miss Helen Patricia Campion.

“Pat” was the daughter of Helen and Joseph M. Campion of Janesville and by then, a graduate of Janesville High School and St. Anthony’s Hospital School of X-ray Technology in Rockford, Ill.

“My mother was an x-ray technician at St. Vincent Hospital and he thought it was fate, so they began a relationship,” Tom explained.

“So my mother was quite young, probably 20, when she got hooked up with this 26-year-old football player. So, when dad told us that story, we thought to ourselves, ‘Wow, that had to have been just like a fate incident, you know.’ That was neat, so that was a great story.”

The edition of the Stevens Point Journal that printed on Fritsch’s birthday the following year — Oct. 31, 1947 — held a special announcement on page 7:

It has been learned that Ted Fritsch of Spencer, Green Bay Packers fullback and former star at Central State Teachers College and Miss Patricia Campion of Janesville are engaged. They will be married on Dec. 27.
The couple married two days after Christmas at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Janesville, with Pat’s sister Ruth as maid of honor and Ted’s brother, Robert, as the best man.

The 1947 season started off with none of the drama that led off the preceding season, with Fritsch signing with the Green Bay team in March and Packers fans and Wisconsin sports journalists making their relief known statewide.

Fritsch led in scoring again that season and finished third in kickoff returns, and the Packers once again finished third in the Western Division, but the next season would look worse.

To be continued