With praise, honor, and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, Garth Nathaniel Fritel passed away on Friday, August 30th at the age of 47 after a long battle of ALS. Garth's motto after being diagnosed in 2017 was "There's a lot of life left to live and a lot to live for". He united his sufferings with our Lord Jesus Christ's and became a strong witness to all those he encountered on how to go out into the world and continue to live life well in the midst of suffering.

Garth was born in Breckenridge, MN but the family relocated a number of times as a young child. He started elementary school in North St Paul, MN and graduated from high school in Billings, MT from Central High School. Garth was a fiercely intelligent, independent person. He attended the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND for two years but ultimately received his bachelors degree in Microbiology from Montana State University. Garth continued his studies at the University of Montana where he earned a PHD in Pharmacy (yes, he proudly claimed dual loyalty to the Bobcats and the Grizzlies). Throughout his life Garth cherished the time he spent with his family. In his younger years this was focused on time with his younger brother, Nick and his many cousins. Particularly fond memories were the summers and holidays he would spend with their cousins closest in age, Mac and Marty Haskins. Garth's love for the outdoors brought a great diversity to his life and he thrived pushing his limits on a downhill mountain bike, a snowboard, or on a white-water raft. He was a leader who would help others discover their limits as well. There were countless occasions we would find ourselves turning to him asking "wait, we're going to do what?!".

His love for the outdoors and his thrill seeking started in childhood, in the 5th grade he went off a jump on his bike, "almost" landing it but breaking his collarbone instead. In junior high he decided to start snowboarding and his first time on the mountain at Discovery Basin in Montana, he fell and suffered a concussion. He also enjoyed playing football and baseball in his younger years and continuing into high school. His faith was important to him and in the 6th grade he wanted to become a priest... then in the 7th grade he wanted to quit school.

God prepared Garth for his fight with ALS by introducing him to adversity at an early age. From birth he suffered from severe asthma, which included countless trips to the ER and several multi-night hospital stays. When he was a toddler, he was run over by a car and by the grace of God he suffered only moderate injuries. In Junior High he spent 6 weeks at the National Jewish Hospital in Denver, CO to have more significant testing and care planning done for his severe asthma. During that testing he was diagnosed with Tuberculosis, fortunately he was asymptomatic and there was no long-term damage found. Despite everything Garth endured, he lived life to the fullest and didn't let it slow him down. This was demonstrated throughout his 7-year battle with ALS where he continued to push his limits and never ever give up.

Garth was probably best known for his witty personality, a love for the outdoors and being completely smitten with his two daughters. Whether it was mountain biking, snowboarding, golfing, hiking, river raft guiding or just plain being outside, he inspired many to enjoy the great outdoors and to live life to the fullest. He loved music, especially his daughters' and he was fond of listening to audiobooks. He was probably the biggest Chicago Bears fan known to by so many. He met his wife, Adeline, at the University of Montana while pursuing his Doctorate of Pharmacy. After graduating, he moved to Spokane Valley, WA, where he eventually became the Director of Pharmacy at Northwest Health Systems where he worked for several years only later to find his passion in infusion pharmacy at PIPS.

Garth was the life of the party and enjoyed being surrounded by and entertaining others.  Whether it was Sundays watching football, Rock Band in the basement, snowboarding at Schweitzer or pool parties in the backyard, he loved being with people. During his 7-year battle with ALS, Garth always showed up for his girls. He attended many school events-Father Daughter dances, fun run, basketball, volleyball, soccer & softball games, Silverwood, karate tournaments, Hoopfest and so much more-he could not say no to his two favorite girls. Garth was an incredible witness to the faith and attended Mass weekly and daily Mass at times too, Adoration, days of Holy Obligation, Family Faith night and numerous other church events. He got out of bed each and every day except for a small few during his entire journey of ALS. He was not willing to give up on the gift of life despite being unable to do so many things on his own.

Garth is survived by his wife, Adeline, and two daughters, Daphne and Tovah. His Mom and Dad, Shelley and Garry, his brother Nick, father-in law Mike Butori (Tina Butori), mother-in-law Tami Isaak (Larry Isaak) and sister-in-law Olivia Butori, niece Elsa Butori and nephew Bridger  Nowakowski. Numerous aunts, uncles, cousins including the Haskins', Fritel's, Gregoire's, Butori's, Bettle's and their extended families.

Memorial donations may be made to the ALSSO association on his behalf by visiting https://alsso.org. And to end this with some words of wisdom from Garth: hug your family, then hug them again. Evaluate your frequency of 'I love you's', now double it. Drink more wine. Let your kid get that last drink of water at night, it's really not a big deal. Hug your family again. When that a**hole in the other lane is trying to merge into yours, maybe you can let them in and perhaps they're not an a**hole. Love each other, life's too short for hatred and despair.

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."- Ephesians 4:32