Former Longtime NFHS Associate Director Fritz McGinness Passes Away

Fritz McGinness, assistant and associate director of the NFHS from 1977 to 2000, passed away August 31 at the age of 89 at his home in the Kansas City suburb of Leawood, Kansas.

After a number of years as a high school teacher, coach, assistant principal and athletic director, McGinness spent five years as an assistant director with the Kansas State High School Activities Association in Topeka before joining the NFHS staff in 1977 when the office was in Elgin, Illinois. He then relocated when the NFHS office moved to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1979 and was the key administrator in construction of the new office building, which included the NFHS’ in-house printing operation.

For the next 20 years, McGinness administered the highly successful NFHS printing operation and in-house equipment center, and he was the production coordinator for all NFHS sports films and video productions. He also was editor of the NFHS high school wrestling rules and was chair of the in-house Rules Review Committee.

McGinness spent the final two years of his tenure assisting NFHS Executive Director Bob Kanaby with the move of the national office from Kansas City to Indianapolis, which occurred officially on February 1, 2000. McGinness made the move to Indianapolis and assisted with the transition of the national office before retiring in the summer of 2000.

McGinness represented high schools on the NCAA Wrestling Rules Committee, and he was a Wrestling Hall of Fame Screening Committee member and a member of the USA Wrestling Board of Directors. He was recognized by the USA Wrestling Hall of Fame as the recipient of the 1999 "Order of Merit" Award, and he was awarded the 2000 President's Award by the National Wrestling Officials and the Meritorious Service Award by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. In 2000, McGinness received the NFHS Citation at the Summer Meeting in Minneapolis.

McGinness was a graduate of Northwest Missouri State University, and he earned his master’s from Emporia (Kansas) State University.