Obituary for Delano Frederick Lardie 'Fritz'
Delano Frederick Lardie 'Fritz' was born November 4, 1935, in Traverse City, MI. Fritz was the oldest of three children. Fritzy, as his sister Sue called him, was the hero of his young sister and she was ever at his side. Jerry, the middle child of the family, also loved his big brother and wanted to be just like him. Fritz died July 27, 2014, in Wheat Ridge, CO. Fritz attended High School at Saint Francis High School in Traverse City. After High School he was married and had his first two children, Randy and Ronald, whom he loved very much. He attended college for two years and then enlisted in the Air Force to serve his country during the Korean war. He was a winter survivalist trainer in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. After his duty was complete he returned to civilian life and met his second wife and the love of his life, Pat Hoaglin. Realizing right away that he had found the perfect match they were married in Boulder, CO, November 18, 1967. Pat had two children already from a prior marriage, Keith and Ken Hoaglin. The four set down roots in Northglenn, CO and the happy family was almost complete. Three short years later the family was surprised with the addition of the final member. Kelly Lardie was born October 9, 1970. In the beginning of their marriage Fritz was employed as an appliance salesman at a variety of different stores and Pat was a beautician. The family purchased an Apollo Hair Systems franchise and the perfect couple became the perfect business partnership. Fritz was the salesman and Pat was the stylist. The two of them built a very successful business. It was through Apollo that they met their dear friends Cindy and Liz. Liz was one of the first stylists for the new company and she is still with them today. Cindy, another hair replacement business owner, has been Fritz’s BFF for many years and they spoke daily and loved each other as a brother loves a sister and vice versa. Pat and Fritz loved their many trips to the casinos in Las Vegas and Windover, NV. They enjoyed dancing and listening to music together. The pair would go out with their lifelong friends, Margurite and Vernan Palmer, “honky tonking” at local country bars. They also loved their children and spent as much time with them as they could. They could often be found at Colacci’s Italian restaurant enjoying a family night out. Sadly, in 1985 Pat passed away. Fritz made an annual pilgrimage to Windover to commemorate their final trip together that he called his memory trip every year for almost the rest of his life. There was not a minute of the rest of his life that she was not with him. Fritz loved to ride horses. He owned at least two horses in his life and rode them regularly until an injury sidelined him later in his life. This was another interested he shared with Cindy. He also liked to ride his bike to the pond and look at the local wildlife. He was often joined by another friend of the family, Barbara Conner. Fritz tended to be a homebody and Barbara can also be thanked for regularly getting him out of the house to attend plays, many of which Kelly was in, and concerts and have some fun in his later years. He loved watching golf and poker on TV and of course ER. But most of all Fritz loved his family. He loved spending time at family holiday parties, poker nights, birthday parties and any other time he could spend with his children and grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his parents, Rita and Dell Lardie; wife, Pat Lardie; granddaughter, Laci Hoaglin; and brother, Lynn Lardie. Fritz is survived by his sons, Keith, Ken, Kelly (James Dickens), Ronald and Randy Lardie; granddaughters, Rosie and Abby Lardie-Dickens, and Nanci Hoaglin; brother, Jerry (Bev) Lardie; sister, Sue (Joe) Soper; nephews, Mike, Jimmy and Ted Lardie and David Soper; and friends Cindy Sonn and Liz Barella.
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