AHRENS, Frederick

3/3/2011 Frederick (Fritz) Martin Ahrens was born Jan. 24, 1927, in Salamanca, N.Y., to Adolph and Pauline Ahrens. Growing up he enjoyed the outdoors, and at age 17 he joined the U.S. Navy where he served on a destroyer and aircraft carrier during World War II. After discharge he attended RIT and completed the electrical program in three years. He loved trains and worked on the Erie-Lackawanna railroad in Salamanca for many years. He married Elaine Audrey Raiber on June 6, 1952, and they had four sons; Paul John, Lee Martin, David Frederick and Dean Roy. After spending time at a nuclear-fuel plant, Ahrens began a second career working for AMAX at a plant in New York and then at the Climax and Henderson mines in Colorado. Upon retirement in 1984, he and his wife moved to Peoria, Ariz., where they spent many happy years. Elaine Ahrens died on July 16, 1997. Fritz Ahrens married Barbara Beth Pepper on Nov. 6, 1998, and they moved to Sun City, Ariz. In April 2010, he was diagnosed with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Because his heart was only functioning at 25 to 30 percent, he was unable to receive the treatment of choice. After an amazing fight through the chemo, he was told in October that the cancer was gone. However, the remission was short lived, and by Christmas the disease had returned and took a tough toll on his body. Although he fought courageously, he lost the final battle on Feb. 23, at a group home in Sun City, Ariz., at 84 years of age. Along with his wife Barbara, he is survived by his sons and their wives, Paul (Jolene), Buena Vista, with grandchildren Brad and Joy Carr and great-grandchildren Anna and Matthew of Ft. Worth, Texas; Lee (Kelly) with granddaughter Dallas of Boulder City, Nev.; David (Erin) of Juneau, Alaska, with grandchildren Marie and great-grandchildren Victoria and Faith; Ashley (Erica) of Juneau; and Steffan (Johnnie) with grandchildren Danielle and one on the way of Colorado Springs; and Dean (Mary) of Blooming Prairie, Minn., with grandchildren Zachariah, Ruth and Hannah and Michael and Tori Bias with great-grandson Wyatt of Denver. He is also survived by step-children Adrienne Riddle (Amber and Steve Gould and Brandon); Jerome Riddle; Linda and Paul Hirschi (Madison, Hannah and Blake); Michael and Laura; and Autumn and Mark Heller (Tatiana, Christiana and Trace), all of Phoenix. Ahrens will be cremated by the Menke Funeral Home in Sun City and requested no services be held.