Michael Fritsch (left) in 1967 and Eric McCormack (right) in 1988
Special Collections & Archives mourns the passing of two of our donors: Michael Fritsch (1930-2023) and Eric McCormack (1938-2023). Both Mr. Fritsch and Dr. McCormack contributed to the Waterloo Region community as a long term business owner and pharmacist, and a writer and professor respectively.
Michael Fritsch began working for what would become Fritsch Pharmacy in 1942 at the age of 11, as a delivery boy. He attended pharmacy school at the Ontario College of Pharmacy (now the University of Toronto) and took over the business in 1959. In 1988 the pharmacy closed and Fritsch Fragrances opened. Fritsch continued to work 6 days a week at the store until he retired at 87. In 2017 and 2018 Special Collections & Archives was privileged to work with Fritsch to preserve the history of the pharmacy dating back to ca. 1900 as well as document the professional life of Fritsch as a pharmacist.
Eric McCormack came to St. Jerome’s University in 1970 after obtaining his PhD at the University of Manitoba. His thesis was on Robert Burton’s “Anatomy of Melancholy” and he frequently alluded to the work in his own writings. His works were known for blending absurdism, existentialism, magical realism and crime fiction. He retired from teaching at St. Jerome’s in 2004 after a long career as a popular and engaging professor. His last work, Cloud, was published in 2014. Between 1999 and 2015 McCormack donated his professional papers to Special Collections & Archives. This includes manuscripts of his works, as well as correspondence, reviews and more.
