Mildred Elizabeth (o'grady) Fitzgerald

Mildred Elizabeth (O'Grady) Fitzgerald, 79, of East Hartford, loving wife for forty-eight years of Joseph Fitzgerald, died with her husband by her side on Wednesday (March 12, 2008). Born in New York, NY on August 17, 1928, a daughter of the late William and Alice (Dignam) O'Grady, she had resided in East Hartford for the past fifty years. Mildred graduated from Washington Irving High School in New York City and received her Bachelors Degree from the College of New Rochelle for Woman. She later earned her Master's Degree from Hunter College in New York City and her Sixth-Year Certificate from the University of Connecticut. Prior to her retirement in 1991, she was employed for over twenty years by the town of East Hartford Board of Education, retiring as the Department Head for the Reading Department. Mildred also previously taught at the Hartford Theological Seminary and for the Hartford Adult School. Mildred originated and orchestrated the ""Road to Reading"" program for the town of East Hartford on local access television channel five, along with orchestrating public busing to local Catholic schools for area students. Mildred was one of the founders of the Alpha Delta Kappa (ADP)-Pi Chapter, which was the Sorority of Women Educators. She was a proud alumna of Washington Irving High School and belonged to their Alumni Club, which met every year for fifty years. Mildred was also a faithful communicant of Our Lady of Peace Church, East Hartford and a founding member of their Retirees Club. She was also a loyal and dedicated fan of the UCONN Women's Basketball team and of the University of Notre Dame football team. Besides her beloved husband, Mildred is survived by a son, Brendan T. Fitzgerald and his wife, Phyllis, of Melbourne, FL; a daughter, Maureen Bellamy and her husband, Jay, of Annandale, VA; a brother, Professor Brendan O'Grady of Prince Edward Island, Canada; two sisters, Claire O'Grady and Eileen Freire both of New York City; three special grandsons, Sean Fitzgerald, Michael Bellamy, Timothy Fitzgerald; many nieces and nephews; and several dear friends. Funeral service will be Saturday (March 15th) at 9:30 AM from the D'ESOPO-East Hartford Memorial Chapel, 30 Carter Street, East Hartford with a Mass of Christian Burial celebrated at 10:30 AM at Our Lady of Peace Church, 370 May Road, East Hartford. Burial will be at Holy Cross Cemetery, Hebron Avenue, Glastonbury. Relatives and friends may call at the funeral home chapel on Friday (March 14th) from 4-7 PM. Memorial contributions in Mildred's memory may be made to St. Peter's Church, c/o Rev. Michael Galasso, 160 Main Street, Hartford, CT, 06106-1894. The family of Mildred has requested that anyone attending calling hours or funeral service, please bring a book for school-aged children to be donated in her memory. For any on-line expressions of sympathy to the family please visit www.desopo.com.