Habersham native turns retirement dream into mission of hope

TITUSVILLE, Ala. — When Matthew Fritz began seeing videos online of retired school buses transformed into recreational vehicles, he wasn’t looking for a new hobby.

He was looking for a way to save a dream.

The 1987 Habersham Central High School graduate had always planned to retire with his wife, Jodie “Jo Jo” Fritz, buy an RV and spend their days traveling together, visiting family and taking on small jobs along the way. But those plans changed in May 2025 when Jo Jo was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer.

“I want to bring our retirement dreams to today,” Fritz said.

Rather than waiting for a retirement that suddenly felt uncertain, the couple bought a retired school bus and began transforming it into “Where’s Jo Jo? The Pink Bus” — a mobile home that will carry them on a 31-day journey through Georgia, Alabama and Florida during Breast Cancer Awareness Month this October.

The trip isn’t about crossing destinations off a bucket list. It’s about sharing hope, encouraging early detection and meeting others whose lives have been touched by breast cancer.

A life-changing diagnosis

Matthew said the diagnosis came as a shock.

“Initially, it was just like, ‘What the heck? Stage 4? Why can’t it be Stage 1?'” he said. “I was trying not to totally freak out right by Jo because I really didn’t know how she was handling it inside.”

The diagnosis came only months after Jo Jo spent weeks caring for her father during hospice before he died of cancer.

“My main priority was taking care of my dad,” Jo Jo said.

While caring for him, she noticed a lump under her arm and tried to schedule doctor’s appointments. After her father’s death, she sought care at a breast health center, where she said doctors completed imaging, a biopsy and additional testing the same day.

Looking back, she hopes others will learn from her experience.

“My main message would be to get checked every year,” she said. “I personally would go to a breast health center or somebody that specializes in breast cancer.”

Bringing retirement to today

After Jo Jo underwent a mastectomy earlier this year, Matthew said he found himself grieving not only the diagnosis but also the future they had envisioned together.

“I started getting really selfish,” he said. “I was starting to think, ‘What about me?'”

What he realized, he said, wasn’t that he feared retirement alone. He feared losing the life they had planned.

Unable to afford the RV they once dreamed of purchasing after losing significant household income during Jo Jo’s illness, Matthew decided to build one himself from a retired school bus.

The project quickly became more than transportation.

“The fact of converting it was kind of a distraction for me,” he said. “When I do stuff for her, I feel good.”

The bus’s name also has a personal history. During vacations over the past several years, the couple routinely posted photos online using the phrase “Where’s Jo Jo?” — a nod to Jodie’s longtime nickname. When it came time to name the bus, Matthew said the answer was obvious.

“I thought, ‘Heck, I’ve got to name the bus Where’s Jo Jo.'”

More than a road trip

While Matthew focuses on finishing the conversion before the October journey, Jo Jo is focused on the people they’ll meet along the way.

“I’m looking forward to meeting more women — or men, because men can get breast cancer too — that’s pretty much in the same boat with me,” she said. “Just compare our lives and talk to each other.”

Matthew said he also hopes to connect with caregivers and spouses who understand the challenges that come with supporting a loved one through cancer treatment.

“I’m looking forward to meeting new people,” he said, “the spouses or family, talking with them and seeing how they’re coping.”

The project has also inspired unexpected generosity.

After reading the couple’s story, an Alabama paint shop offered its facility for the project. Employees volunteered to help prepare the bus, the owners offered to paint it, and a paint distributor donated the paint, saving the couple thousands of dollars as they prepare for a public paint reveal later this month.

Faith, family and community

Both Matthew and Jo Jo credit their Christian faith and the support of family and friends for carrying them through the past year.

“One of the things that keeps me going is my faith in Jesus Christ,” Matthew said.

Jo Jo agreed.

“I know for a fact if I didn’t know God the way I know God, I probably would have been one of them basket cases,” she said. “I think that’s the only way that I’ve made it as far as I have … because I know I’ve got God on my side.”

Matthew, who moved to Habersham County from Atlanta as an eighth grader, said the friendships he built growing up in Clarkesville remain some of the strongest in his life. Although the couple now live in Titusville, Alabama, they return often and regularly gather with classmates from the Class of 1987.

“My wife feels like she’s friends with them, and she never even knew them,” he said.

Jo Jo said she’s “doing fine,” though she’s “been tired a lot lately” as she continues treatment.

As they prepare to take the Pink Bus on the road this fall, both hope their journey will inspire others to take their health seriously and cherish the time they have.

Jo Jo recently encouraged one of her younger relatives to schedule a breast exam after learning she planned to wait until age 40.

“People think they’ve got to wait until they’re 40,” Jo Jo said. “No, you don’t have to wait until you’re 40. Start early.”

The couple’s October itinerary includes stops in Cornelia, Peachtree Corners, Alpharetta and Atlanta before continuing through Florida and returning home through Pensacola. Along the way, they plan to attend breast cancer awareness events, meet fellow survivors, caregivers and families, and share their story with communities across the Southeast.

For more information, to follow the couple’s journey or to support the Pink Bus project, visit the “Where’s Jo Jo? – The Pink Bus” Facebook page or the couple’s GoFundMe campaign.