Frederick Kirsch

Known as Fritz, he was a 7th & 8th grade teacher, teaching almost 7000 students over his 42 year career. 41 of those years were spent at Pinellas Park Middle School. He loved teaching his students English, Speech and History, and he loved to get them involved as much as he could in various projects that would stir their creativity and imagination. He always said that he didn't go to work everyday; he went to go play with his friends. He also taught his students calligraphy, much to the chagrin of other teachers, who could no longer read students' handwriting.

As a great lover of history, he participated in many types of historical re-enactments from the American Revolution, Seminole Indian wars and the Civil War. He was also a Civil War photographer, driving his antique photographer's wagon to many events across the country. Fritz absolutely loved antiques from the 19th Century - the more ornate, the better. He often stated he had been born in the wrong century and loved to dress in 19th Century clothing. His favorite historical accomplishment was creating the civil war re-enactment Garrison at Fort Clinch, which he ran for many years and continues today.

Fritz was a photographer for most of his life, starting in high school as a school reporter & photographer. Eventually, that photography turned into doing weddings, portraits, sports teams and historical re-enactments which he continued over a 60 year career. His favorite photographic sessions were done on-site at Civil War re-enactments. He loved studying original 1850s & 1860s photos and then posing Civil War re-enactors in those positions for an authentic image.

Fritz was also a musician and loved to play his guitar every day. He would play just about any genre of music, but Bluegrass and Irish were his favorites. He played in front of whomever he could, from groups of two to being on stage at Coachman Park in front of thousands. Fritz also formed the family band, The Florida Mountaineers (because we've already reached our peak!) with his wife Sara and his two step-sons.

An avid gardener, Fritz used to joke about how good he was with plants. He would say that he not only had a green thumb, he had two green thumbs and two green feet! His skills of bringing dead plants back to life were legendary and astounded people at the garden shops. One of his self-proclaimed greatest accomplishments was a poinsettia he bought half-dead from Home Depot, which turned into an 8-foot bush that bloomed for more than 20 years.

Fritz was also an accomplished author, publishing 6 books in his life. Mostly historical fiction, he loved to weave real history into his fictional stories. He was an almost-fluent speaker of Spanish and French, learning the language as a way to connect with his non-English speaking students and with people he met from all around the world.

Fritz is survived by his wife, Sara; step-sons, Grimm (Jessica) and Nathan; sister, Marjorie (Dan); brother, Drew (Rick); several nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews; not to mention many friends he called family.

Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to:

Heritage Village

11909 125th Street

Largo, Florida 33774

Two memorial services will be held:

Monticello, Florida - July 15th, 4-6pm at the CowHaus (in-person only)

Tampa Bay - September 16th, 2-4 pm. It will be held at Countryside Christian Center, located at 1850 McMullen Booth Rd, Clearwater, FL 33759.

If you wish to attend the Tampa Bay service in-person, please RSVP using this form so we know how many to plan for.

https://forms.gle/oKkqaWSTyWu5Zcmt8