On Saturday January 27 th , 2024, Franz Otto Szakmary ("Fritz") widower and father of three boys passed away peacefully in his sleep at the age of 86.

Franz was born November 19, 1937 in Brooklyn, NY. He was raised by his mother Käthe (née Bartels) and step-father Artie Hoffmann ("Pop"), who loved Franz and his sister Diann (Dede) as if they were his own children.

In 1955 Franz joined the United States Air Force and did his basic training at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, MS (a place he once described as "the humidest place on Earth"). Much of his time in the Air Force was spent in Kadena Air Base in Okinawa and Tachikawa Air Force Bace in Tokyo. He was trained as an Air Traffic Control Radar Repairman, but to hear him tell it he spent most of his time in the service "riding around Tokyo on motorcycles." He served for three and a half years, then received his Honorable Discharge from the service in April of 1963, reaching the rank of Airman First Class.  After his time in the Air Force he went to Queens College on the GI Bill and received a degree in Mathematics.

He met the love of his life, Eileen in 1961 and that winter during a ski trip in the Poconos with her he decided that she was "the one," and on Valentine's Day 1962 he proposed. They were married on June 22, 1963. They moved to Queens and started a family: first came Frank then Eric. Then the slow westward migration began.  First a move to Chicago, followed quickly by a third son, Neil.  After a brief time in Illinois, a move to Houston, then eventually the family found themselves in Denver in 1987, and home at last.

He is survived by his sons Frank (Jef), Eric (Kimberly and their daughters Alyssa, Chelsea and Lexis), and Neil (Carrie and son Caden), as well as many nieces and nephews. Franz is preceded in death by his wife Eileen and sister Dede.

In lieu of sending flowers, please make a donation to one of the following organizations: The American Cancer Society The Alzheimer Association