WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Recovery can offer restoration and give life new meaning. When someone in recovery passes on, their legacy remains. It's difficult to describe Victor Fitz, who lived and breathed recovery and shared his experience throughout Wichita and the country.Charlie Bartlett worked closely with the recovery community, especially with Oxford Houses, whom he had known from the beginning of his recovery journey. "I met Vic when he was brand new in the Oxford House, and I will probably start crying because he was so close to me," Barlett said, fighting back tears. Recovery creates unbreakable bond between friends From the beginning, Victor was an advocate for helping people get better. "He said you need to be here, so I gave it a try and said I'd stay six months, and that turned into four years," John Agnew, a long-time friend of Victor's, said. Agnew says the early years were the foundation of their 20-plus-year friendship. "Wow, we bonded in our new birth, in recovery, and it was like we were born together. I loved him very much, and I know he loved me," he said. Victor’s love expanded beyond the recovery community. He had a wife, Cynthia Fitz, and 11 children. "He was a wonderful father, and everybody knows him because he had lots of love to give out," Fitz said. Cynthia says the recovery world became part of hers because it was so important in Vic's life. "Vic started taking me to the world conventions, and we started working as a team," she added. How Hope is Alive is changing the lives of addicts He was part of several teams and many movements to strengthen recovery. “Over the years, I brought him into the Kansas Governors Behavioral Health Association Planning Council, and he was instrumental in adult peer services," Bartlett said. “The expansion of OH (Oxford House) in the state of Kansas and across the country," Agnew said. "When I first met Vic, we only had 23 houses in the state, and we are getting ready to open the 200th," Bartlett said. Agnew called Vic the fabric of Kansas recovery. Victor died in February 2023, and while his physical work has stopped, his legacy and mission carry on through the people he loved. "I didn't even know how far his outreach was in this community," Fitz said. Dodge City facility addresses mental and addiction together Victor is one man with a wide impact specific to everyone he meets. "I have always been a guy who had a lot of acquaintances, but a handful are really close friends, and he was a friend, and I'll always remember him as a friend," Bartlett said. “Victor loved recovery, and we are going to celebrate recovery because Victor loved recovery,” Agnew said. His wife says he will never be forgotten. “A very loving and giving and a blessed person who has blessed many in his life,” Fitz said. Victor inspired countless people in the recovery community. He became a Kansas-certified mentor and a licensed addiction counselor. Fitz is also the driving force behind Recovery Idol, which this year is named in his honor, "Victorious in Recovery." Recovery Idol is Sept. 28 at Century II.