View source for FRITZ, Andrew


[[File:Fritz.png |350px|thumbnail|right|<center>Andrew Fritz</center>]]
[[File:Adrian.png |350px|thumbnail|right|<center>Adrian Dahood-Fritz</center>]]


<span style="color:#006400">'''FRITZ, Andrew'''</span> (c. 1979-2019) and <span style="color:#006400">'''Adrian Dahood-Fritz'''</span> (c. 1979-2019), both 40, were aboard the ''Conception'' when the 75-foot craft caught fire in the waters off Santa Cruz Island and sank in the early hours of Labor Day. Both perished. They were 40. 

Adrian joined the California Natural Resources Agency’s Ocean Protection Council in April, leading efforts to manage the state’s network of marine protected areas, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said in a statement Thursday. Dahood-Fritz “cared deeply about the ocean and biodiversity. She embodied marine conservation and was a highly accomplished and respected scientific researcher,” Gov. Newsom said in a statement Thursday. “Adrian’s passion and energy will be greatly missed.” The couple moved to Sacramento from Taylor, Texas, about 35 miles northeast of Austin, for Dahood’s job about 15 months ago, friends told the Austin American-Statesman newspaper this week. Husband Andrew Fritz was a photographer, photography teacher and a globetrotting traveler who scuba dived all over the world. Fritz was known in the couple’s former Central Texas home for his striking nature photography. On his site, AMadTrip, “a collection of images from wandering around the Earth,” Fritz spoke of the passion he brought to his art. It was the “product of many days and weeks of early mornings and sleepless nights,” Fritz wrote. “In many situations, I literally shed blood, sweat and tears to get the shot. Why? Because it is simply who I am. It is what I do.”


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=====<span style="color:#006400">In the News~</span>=====


'''September 5, 2019 [Santa Maria Times]:''' “On Thursday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statement identifying two of the victims as Adrian Dahood-Fritz and her husband, Andrew Fritz. Dahood-Fritz had worked for the California Natural Resources Agency's Ocean Protection Council since April as a senior environmental scientist. "Adrian led the state's efforts to manage California's network of marine protected areas, and she cared deeply about the ocean and biodiversity," Newsom said. "She embodied marine conservation and was a highly accomplished and respected scientific researcher."  ”


'''September 6, 2019 [KCRA]:''' “SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
A couple new to Sacramento is among the victims in Monday's boat fire off the Southern California coast. Andrew Fritz, 40, and his wife, Adrian Dahood-Fritz, 40, had moved to California from Texas in April when Adrian got a new job with the state, said Josh Baker, a longtime friend of Andrew. Andrew Fritz was an avid outdoorsman, photographer, diver and chief technology officer for a company in Texas. "He was brilliant. Never stopped learning, always seeking. Had just a ton of energy," said Baker, who grew up with Fritz in Seguin, Texas. In 2014, Fritz joined Baker's photography company AzulOx Visuals. "We did some pretty epic photo journeys and road trips. And that's just kind of who he was. Like, he didn't want to be average, he wanted to be great," Baker said. Baker also said that Fritz was a dive master and often sought out diving trips that took him into caves and in search of shipwrecks. "They were just going to see the marine wildlife there. I mean, that was kind of the point of the trip," said Baker about their decision to go to Santa Cruz Island. Dahood-Fritz was a diver, too, and known for her work as a marine biologist. She often traveled to Antarctica. “He was smart and she was smarter," Baker said. Dahood-Fritz was a senior environmental scientist for the Ocean Protection Council. She had a love of animals, he said, especially penguins and cats. "She was fierce and brilliant and, you know, loved animals. A lot of their time was spent, you know, volunteering for animal shelters and caring for animals." Baker said the two were unique and so was their relationship. "He's exactly who he is and he's not like anybody else and she's kind of the same way, but seeing them together is one of those things where you realize there really is somebody out there for everybody," he said. "They weren’t right for anybody else in the world, but they were right for each other." ”