Pink bus tour honors life of woman who died of breast cancer
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) – Action 8 News caught up with a man on a mission — to honor the memory of his wife who died of breast cancer by going on a tour in a large pink bus.
Thomas Fritz drives the bus every day during October, which is breast cancer awareness month. His 31-stop tour covers many locations in Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
His wife, Jodie “JoJo” Fritz died of breast cancer in August at the age of 50. She had been diagnosed in May of 2025.
“Since my wife passed away, it’s just me and my dog Teddy,” Fritz told Action 8 News. “We’re going to be traveling and doing events. We have a couple of cancer patients we want to visit. Unfortunately one of them passed away a couple of days ago. It’s very sad. She was going to go for a ride on the bus.”
The idea for the bus started when Jodie Fritz retired from Waffle House. The couple lived in Key West, Florida, until hurricane season. They drove to see family in Alabama, Georgia and other parts of Florida. Fritz says his wife wanted to spread awareness for early breast cancer detection.
They bought the bus, converted it to an RV with help from family, friends, the community and Facebook followers.
“We just said, ‘Hey we got to name the bus JoJo, and where is JoJo,’ on our trips. I would say, “Where is JoJo?’ and she would say, ‘Over here, babe,’ and then tell me something, so we just kind of thought that would be the best name for the bus and stuff,” Fritz said.
He has a meet and greet virtual call to the Breast Cancer Awareness Luncheon at the Civic Center in Gadsden on Thursday, October 15, at noon.
The bus will be in our area on Oct 17 in Wetumpka at 10AM. The Joy to Life Foundation has its Pink Walk that day. Friends will be walking for Jo Jo.
Joy to Life’s annual Walk of Life is at 5PM on October 24 at 17 Springs in Millbrook. There will be a drone light show and there will be walkers for Jo Jo, too.
