Donald Charles Fritts Sr.

Donald Charles Fritts Sr., 65, of Newport, died Sunday, June 22, 2008, at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville.

He was a member of St. James United Methodist Church in Newport. He was a retired Marine Corps staff sergeant and retired civil service employee. He was a member of Newport Masonic Lodge No. 706, New Bern Scottish Rite Bodies, Carteret County Shrine Club & Mariners, Legion of the Moose, Newport Moose Lodge No. 2194, Havelock VFW, Newport American Legion and Fleet Reserve Association.

He was preceded in death by his sister, Carol Mills.

He is survived by his wife, Betty Ruth Fritts; one son Donald C. Fritts Jr. of Honolulu; two daughters, Mabel Elizabeth Wilde of San Diego and Mary Anne Austin of Jacksonville; one sister, Shirley Belcher of Rapid City, S.D.; and five grandchildren, William Pope Fritts, Elizabeth Ann Wilde, Benjamin Jacob Wilde, Kayla Noelle Austin and Melissa Anne Austin.

Services will be held at 7 p.m. Friday at the Cotton Funeral Home and Crematory Chapel, New Bern. Visitation will begin at 5 p.m. Friday prior to the service at the funeral home.

Burial with full military honors will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Coastal Carolina State Veterans Cemetery, Jacksonville

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, 825 College Blvd., Suite 102 PMB 609 Oceanside, CA 92057 or donate online at www.SemperFiFund.org.