Fritz Grimsley, OCATT/CHP Sergeant, was OCATT... He was there from the start in 1993, making the program what it is today.  Fritz retired officially on August 1, 2004 from the CHP.

Fritz passed away on September 14, 2004.

His funeral was held on Thursday, September 23, 2004 1000 hours at the Calvary Chapel, 3800 S. Fairview, Santa Ana.

His burial took place at Pacific View Cemetary, 3500 Pacific View Drive, Corona del Mar.

A reception was held later that afternoon by family and friends to have a toast to the "Fritzer" as retired OCATT/OCDA Investigator Art DeLuca liked to call him.  The reception was held at the Newport Dunes, 1131 Back Bay Drive, Newport Beach.

To download the funeral folder from the CHP, click here. (315kb .pdf file)

To download the funeral folder from the family, click here. (407kb .pdf file)

To read more about Fritz, click here.

I also would like to share an e-mail message I received from Alan Anami, former Auto Theft Lieutenant at Honolulu PD and a definite friend of Fritz...(if any of you attended the 1993 WSATI Training Seminar in Shell Beach, you'll remember all the people introducing themselves and adding "friend of Fritz Grimsley."...there was a reason he had so many friends and I think Alan captures it pretty well)... Gary

-----Original Message-----
Subject: Re: Fritz
   Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 02:03:48 -1000
  From: alan t anami <aanami@honolulu.gov>
      To: webmaster@wsati.org

gary,

thanks for all the updates.  i was looking into getting a flight into orange county airport via aloha airlines for the funeral, but it looks like it won't be happenning.  if i can make it, i surely will be arriving in the honolulu police department's class "a" uniform for a class "a" guy.  it might still be a possibility but the options appear to be getting slimmer.

i really wanted to be there and share the moment with everyone.  i had some interesting email with the "professor" over the years and wanted to share them with the ocatt boys.  one part of your notification was wrong though.......the professor may have been the last of the gunfighters, but he was not the last of the GUNSLINGERS.  all those who knew and learned from him were deputized by fritz to be GUNSLINGERS whether they knew it or not. it was his way of being assured that the gunfight against crime and the bad guys would always be carried on because we are the last defense, the thin blue line.

in his last email to me dated 08-14-04, fritz told me that he did retire after 38 years "on the job", and was looking forward to receiving his first retirement check on 09-01-04.  he also told me that he was looking forward to taking sue to the wsati conference in late september, as it would be her first time she would have gone anywhere in almost 3 years.

he told me about the "going away party" the boys at the "cat house" gave him, and how 130 present and previous associates of ocatt over the past 11 years showed up!  how could you guys run out of beer and food by 3 pm? tactical and operational error?  i thought ocatt never makes mistakes!

fritz went on to relate that one of  his greatest accomplishments was making chp provide him his "ride" for 32 of his 38 years, and 30 of them were in plainclothes!  but then again he surmised, maybe it was because chp just knew better, and just kept him away from the public!

he promised me that when sue got stronger, that he would bring her back to hawaii, because the last time they had been here was in '68, on their honeymoon!  1968!  i was in the 8th grade just becoming proficient in boosting rides!  he promised we would consume a few beers, and swap war stories into the wee hours of the night.

he then thanked me for being his friend and keeping in touch, and that he would meet up with me on the shores of oahu one day soon.

he then ended his message as always.........FRITZ....."El diablo Sergeante 'de las Pantera negres".  i asked him once at a title and odometer seminar being held in l.a.,  what the hell all that gibberish was about.  he just smiled that big smile he always had when he knew he had you, and you had no idea what was going on.  he then related that the leader of a gang of spanish speaking gang bangers and auto thieves had told him, that was what they called him, as they were ALL BEING ARRESTED FOR AUTO THEFT!.......THE DEVIL SERGEANT OF THE BLACK CATS.......ohhhhhhh how the professor LOVED that name!......."El Diablo Sergeante 'de las Pantera negres.......THE DEVIL SERGEANT OF THE BLACK CATS.......THE PRIME MOVER OF THE OCATT BOYS.  fritz really loved that moniker, almost as much as he loved the boys at ocatt. but nothing he loved more than the love of his life, his wife sue.

so on thursday, if i'm not physically there, spiritually i will be.  so if you hoist a few that day in memory of Sergeant Robert Grimsley, hoist a few for me.  i'll be hoisting a few for fritz in honolulu.

To Sergeant Robert Grimsley.  To El Diablo Sergeante 'de las Pantera negres. To the Devil Sergeant of the Black Cats.  To the Professor.  To my friend. May God keep you close in his arms, and coveted in his heart.  May God speed you on your journey, and Bless you always.  You will be sorely missed, but never forgotten.  But rest in peace and be assured that the job you started will be kept on, and that the world will be a better and safer place for all who inhabit it, because of you.  Aloha.  Okole Maluna.

aloha..............."the wave", just one of fritz' deputized gunslingers.