Carol Fitzgerald (née Bloch) died in Jacksonville, Florida on April 29, 2021, due to complications from Inclusion-body Myositis. She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on August 18, 1942, the daughter of Edward A. and Catherine E. (McKay) Bloch.
In 1956 she moved with her family to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where they owned a small beachside motel, The Grenadier. Carol graduated from Fort Lauderdale High School in 1960, and attended the University of Florida for one year before transferring to the University of Mississippi, where she received her B. A. in 1964. She married John McKee in 1965, with whom she had two sons: John Michael McKee, Jr. and James Scott McKee. They divorced in 1977. In 1984, she married Captain Jean Fitzgerald, (U.S. Navy, Ret.). They were married thirty years when her husband passed away in 2014. In 2012, Carol and her husband moved to Jacksonville, Florida, to live closer to their family.
From 1978 to 2000 Carol was an administrative aide to a succession of Broward County Commissioners. She then served as administrative assistant to the director of the Broward County Public Library system, and then as Literary Resources Coordinator for the Florida Center for the Book, before retiring in 2005.
Carol and her husband, Jean, were involved in many community organizations, mainly relating to the arts and libraries in Fort Lauderdale. Her love of books and literature led to the publication of two, two-volume bibliographies: The Rivers of America: A Descriptive Bibliography (2001) and Series Americana: Post Depression-Era Regional Literature, 1938-1980 (2009), both published by Oak Knoll Press in Association with The Center for the Book in The Library of Congress. In the years preceding and following publication of her books, several universities and libraries mounted exhibits of books and materials from Carol's vast collection of Rivers of America books. She was especially proud to donate all of her books, correspondence, art work, and files relating to the Rivers of America series and books relating to the Series Americana bibliography to the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division of The Library of Congress.
She was a member of the Broward County Library Foundation, The Grolier Club (New York City), and the Lauderdale Yacht Club.
She is survived by her two sons, John Michael McKee, Jr., and James Scott McKee; her three beloved grandchildren Sarah McKee, Justin McKee, and Jason McKee; her sister, Lois Jean Knoepfel (Hans); and her nephews Hans and Robert Knoepfel, all of Jacksonville.
A memorial service will be held for Carol on Monday, May 10, 2021 beginning at 6:00pm, at Hardage-Giddens Oaklawn Legacy Lodge. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Light of the World Clinic, The Myositis Association, or Seafarers House.
https://www.lightoftheworldclinic.org/
https://www.myositis.org/donate/
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