Oral History Interview with Fritz Benedict, 1994, 2006

Bio: Fredric "Fritz" Benedict was born in 1914 in Medford, Wisconsin. He received a masters in Architecture from the University of Wisconsin before apprenticing for three years with Frank Llyod Wright, a legendary architect. He joined the 10th Mountain Division during WWII and where he had his first glimpse of Aspen while training. He returned after the war where he was intricately involved with the Music Associates of Aspen (MAA) designing many of the buildings associated with the music school. In 1949 he married Fabi his lifetime love, they did not have any children, instead they sponsored many local children with skiing. Fritz designed many buildings around Aspen including the builidng where Wells Fargo now resides, the replacement building for The Thompson Hardware Store on the corner of Galena and Cooper. He was the "father" of the 10th Mountain Hut and Trail System in 1980. He funded the dining hall for the music school housing as well as donated ten acres to Open Space to compensate for land used in music student housing on the Marolt property. He was involved in the founding of the Aspen Institute and Design Conference, was the first chairman on the Planning and Zoning Comission, implementing the first sign code banning billboards and neon signs in Aspen. He was inducted into the Aspen Hall of Fame in 1988 and honored with the Greg Mace award in 1987 "for epitomizing the spirit of Aspen community". Fritz passed away in 1995.