A 74-year-old bagpipe player who died in a scuba diving accident is being remembered by his friends.
Henry Frantz II died in March while scuba diving in Hawaii. He lived in DeKalb County and became friends with 15-year-old Oban Pitts.
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Pitts told Channel 2’s Tom Jones that Frantz taught him so much, and it pained him to hear he died in a scuba diving incident.
“It’s just really sad to have him go because I loved that man; he was amazing.”
The teen still can’t believe his mentor, his bagpipe buddy, is gone.
“I was kind of in shock for a while,” Pitts said.
He was in shock after learning Frantz died while scuba diving in Hawaii in March.
“It’s just a horrible tragedy. I feel so bad that that had to happen,” he said.
Pitts lives in Colorado, but before that, he lived in Avondale Estates. When he was 12, he wanted to learn to play the bagpipes, since he’s part Scottish and Oban, his first name, is a town in Scotland.
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Frantz was well known for playing his bagpipes around the metro area. He founded the Atlanta Pipe Band.
Pitts‘ grandmother reached out to Frantz to teach him how to play the instrument. She says Frantz reluctantly agreed.
Pitts says he would go to Frantz’s home in Decatur, where they would sit at a table and he would learn from the master.
“We had lessons every Wednesday, I believe, after school,” Pitts said.
Then Oban moved to Colorado. On his last day of school before he moved away, he heard bagpipes while he was at his locker.
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He stepped outside and saw Frantz.
“He was down there playing for me, and it was quite honestly a very emotional moment,” Pitts described.
It was just as emotional when he heard Frantz had died.
“The first thing that came to my mind was that I have to go to this funeral,” Pitts said.
Pitts flew back to say goodbye to his mentor and friend.
Pitts got the honor of playing his bagpipes with other pipers at Frantz’s funeral. He met some of Frantz’s family.
Pitt says Frantz taught him so much about the pipes, and about life, and he just had to be there.
“He was there to play for me on my last day of school. I’m gonna be there to play on his last day as well. He taught me everything I knew,” Pitts said.
Pitts now plays his bagpipes for events in Denver, just like his mentor did in the metro Atlanta area.