2 Washington state educators killed in Mexico bus crash

SEATTLE – A husband and wife who were longtime educators in Washington state were among the 11 foreign tourists killed in a bus crash in southern Mexico.

Jody Fritz was an assistant principal at an elementary school in Belfair. Her husband Andy Fritz taught environmental science at Clover Park Technical College south of Tacoma for nearly two decades. Both were 51.

The couple’s employers said a family member notified them that the two died while vacationing in Mexico.

A bus carrying cruise ship passengers on an excursion to Mayan ruins in southeastern Mexico flipped over on a narrow highway Tuesday, killing 11 travellers and their guide and injuring about 20 others.

Quintana Roo state prosecutors said Wednesday that a preliminary manslaughter investigation indicated the driver lost control of the bus and when he tried to get back on the narrow highway, the bus flipped, struck a tree and landed in vegetation along the roadside.

North Mason School District Superintendent Dana Rosenbach Fritz was an outstanding, dedicated educator. Even though she had recently joined the school, she made a deep impression on everyone, she said.

Fritz and her husband had recently bought their dream home on Hood Canal and moved there to be closer to her mother, Rosenbach said.

“Andy as an instructor was one of those people who took the extra time needed to make sure concepts and ideas were really sinking for his students,” said Tawny Dotson, the college’s vice-president for strategic development.

She said he was committed to the environment and to helping his students learn how best to work in the field and to be prepared to become environmental stewards.