The National Wrestling Hall of Fame was saddened to learn that Fritz McGinness, who received the Order of Merit award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award from the Missouri Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2008, passed away on August 31, at the age of 89.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, September 6, at 11:30 a.m. at the 2 p.m. at the Hope Lutheran Church in Shawnee, Kansas.

"We are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Fritz McGinness, a man who impacted the sport of wrestling in every capacity. On behalf of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Board of Governors and our staff, I extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends." said Lee Roy Smith, Executive Director of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. "As associate director of the National Federation of High School Associations, Fritz was the principal liaison for wrestling to all of our nation’s high schools. He also served on committees for the Hall of Fame, and was a member of the Board of Directors of USA Wrestling for many years. He made countless contributions at multiple levels to wrestling, and our sport will miss him."

McGinness was also the liaison to the NFHS Wrestling Rules Committee, and managed the production and publication of thousands of sports films, rule books, manuals, and other literature. He also served as the high school representative on the NCAA Rules Committee.

On the board for USA Wrestling, McGinness held the offices of secretary, treasurer and vice president while also serving on several committees, including the executive, law, finance and constitution committees and serving as chairman for several.

McGinness served on the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's state chairman organization committee and selection committees.

After retirement, he continued to work for the NFHS and was Executive Chairman of the 2003 NCAA Wrestling Championships held in Kansas City.