Willys Fritz, 83, of West Union died from injuries sustained in a car accident involving a West Union police officer. Fritz failed to yield as he pulled out of the Quillin’s parking lot into the Hwy. 150 northbound lane and was struck on his passenger side by Officer Bryson Hennigar, 23. Fritz’s truck did a 180 upon impact and came to a rest in the ditch.  (Chris DeBack photo)

Accident claims life of longtime WU businessman

By Chris Deback
cdeback@thefayettecountyunion.com

Willys Fritz, 83, a retired longtime West Union businessman, died Monday afternoon from injuries sustained in a car accident involving a West Union police officer. 

The officer, 23-year-old Bryson Hennigar, was injured, but he was treated at Gundersen Palmer Lutheran Hospital in West Union and released. 

At approximately 3 p.m., Officer Hennigar was in emergency status, heading north on Hwy. 150 while responding to a call at the apartments on Jefferson Street. Witnesses Eric Croal and Aaron Schmidt, both of West Union, who were parked in Croal’s car in the Quillins parking lot noted that Hennigar had his lights on and sirens were sounding as he drove through the Hwy. 18 and 150 intersection. However, both witnesses say that the sirens stopped after the intersection as the officer continued northbound. 

“I turned and said to my friend, ‘That cop needs to slow down. He is going too fast and could hit someone,’” Schmidt related. 

Fritz was leaving West Union Hardware in his pickup truck. He failed to yield as he turned into the northbound lane on Hwy. 150 from the Quillin’s parking lot and was struck on his passenger side by the police cruiser. Witnesses say Fritz’s truck did a 180 and rolled to a stop in the ditch in front of Quillin’s while Hennigar’s police cruiser came to a stop in the BP Express parking lot. 

Schmidt and Croal sprang into action, running over to check on Fritz. Both noted that they found the 83-year-old man in the passenger seat of his pickup truck, so they weren’t sure if he had been wearing a seat belt. 

After emergency crews arrived, both witnesses helped paramedics transfer Fritz to a stretcher. Fritz was taken to the local hospital, along with Hennigar. 

“Originally, I sprinted over so I could call 911, but 911 said they already had someone en route, so I hung up,” Croal said. “The paramedics said, ‘We need some help here.’ I just supported the stretcher as they moved his body onto it.”

Because the accident involved a police officer, the Iowa State Patrol was called into investigate the accident. A section of Highway 150 was shut down for approximately four hours from the time of the crash until the completion of the investigation. 

Fritz was born on a farm near Hawkeye, and graduated from Sumner High School in 1952. He met his wife, Leanne, who was from Sumner, on a blind date. Willys went to work for Art Hubner at the Tire Shop in West Union. The couple settled in Sumner in 1957, where they had their three children, Susan, Katheryn and Dan. 

The family moved to West Union in 1972, when West Union Tire and DX became a fixture downtown. Fritz owned the tire shop until he sold the business to Don Fauser in 1985. He worked for Fauser until his retirement in 2012.