I was so saddened to hear of the passing of father Fitzgerald. I will always cherish the time we spent at my brother and Tsion wedding again  at first birthday of my nephew issack. But most of all, I always remember the conversation we had from world history to humanity in general. You have left a positive impact on me. I am so glad I had a chance to met  him.  May condolences and prayers. Yonas

He was my home room teacher in grade 9 in 1968 and later taught me chemistry. Always informative and a great raconteur. For many he was a favourite teacher and was mine over the five years I spent at Neil McNeil HS. Fond memories always.

Albert Anderson

Father Fitzgerald was my chemistry teacher at Neil McNeil in the early 60s. He was a great teacher, demonstrating a commitment to science and his students.
Over the years we would touch base at funerals and Neil events, but our friendship developed when Father was residing at Providence Villa and my wife, Esther, and I retired.
We started to enjoy excursions together and Father had such a keen mind and so many interests including; theatre, movies, art, opera, sports, history, botany, fine dining and his life-long favourite passion for fishing. Needless to say, every outing with Father was an adventure and an education.
We came to regard Father Fitzy as a much loved family member and we will always cherish the time we shared with him.
 

We were very sorry to hear that we have lost Fr. Fitzgerald.  He was one of my teachers at Neil McNeil and everyone loved him.  I ran track and he religiously followed our team and became very special to all of us.  I am living in Ohio now, but I have kept in touch with him through Mike & Esther Nash.  In the last few years, Fr. Fitzgerald visited with us at Mike's home.  Even though his health was compromised, he was still wanting to know about all of us and our families.  He made us all feel like we were important to him.  He was a very special Priest and friend.  We know he's smiling down on us now.  God Bless you, Fr. Fitzgerald.  You made a difference in many lives.

Ed & Carol Hearne

He loved fishing, smoked menthol cigarettes (in the early days) and knew the Latin names of all the plants in the hedgerow.
Yes, he was a priest, but to us he was our uncle - mother's younger brother.
My son, his 'Grand-nephew' was married on the day he died - we heard the following morning (UK time).
On the day before his passing he sent them this message..
'..I wish for you every blessing on the joyous occasion of your wedding. I wish that the love that you have for one another is blessed with years of joy, happiness and peace. You will be in my thoughts and prayers on Saturday.'

RIP Uncle G


Father Fitz, as he was known to me, was goods friends with my grandparents. Most of my memories of Father Fitz are from family gatherings, of him telling stories, discussing politics and history and generally making merry. Father Fitz had a distinct, contagious laugh that you couldn't help but smile at. What I will remember most about Father Fitz though was his sense of humour and his positivity. He was always full of compliments and nice remarks. He never complained, even through his health problems. He routinely told my father he could run like a gazelle down the hallway of Providence (even though he was using a wheelchair). He was a lovely person and I'll miss him.

we regularly had lunch with Father Fitz.  It was always a pleasure to talk to Father as he always was well informed about everything happening. When talking about the past Father's memory often was better than ours. Father Fitz will be greatly missed by us as we are sure by everyone whose lives he touched.

Cathy and Bill Wrencliffe

It has taken a week to properly absorb the fact of Uncle Gerald's passing away.  Despite his age, there was always something so youthful, optimistic and enquiring about him and it's hard to accept that I'll never again hear about all his enthusiasms or his hearty laughter at the other end of a phone line.
We talked a lot, most especially over the interminable periods of lockdown, which for him, such a gregarious man, were particularly tough.  His friends literally meant the world to him and I'm so pleased that recently he'd been able to leave the building and meet up with them again.  He was just thrilled about that.  He truly loved people, showed special interest in family and friends and his conversations showed wisdom, compassion and the roving intellect of a true polymath.  I'm going to miss him so much, and treasure our chats about his life, our family history and about Literature - he was always delighted if I had read a book he liked and we would have great discussions about it.  Music, Education, Sport, Fishing...he had many loves.   I'm immensely proud of the work he did in his 61 years as a Spiritan, both in education and with refugees.   He loved to be involved in seeing individuals progress.  Uncle Gerald has meant a great deal  to so many people - and to his Confreres, his many many friends and ex-pupils I send condolences and thanks for treasuring such an exceptional person and true exemplar.  We'll all miss him.

I first met Fr. Fitzgerald when I was maybe 10 or 11 years old.  All I knew, was that he was my sister's high school principal.  He traveled to Hong Kong for a visit.  My mom and dad hosted Fr. Fitzgerald and took him on a local tour to see/experience the highlights of the city.  I barely knew how to speak English.  I tagged along.  Fr. Fitzgerald greeted us with his big smile when we picked him up at the hotel.   I was pleasantly surprised that he  was not your typical stern principal (that I conjured up in my head).  We had a great time touring the city.  We had dinner at the renowned Jumbo Floating Restaurant (restaurant is on a huge boat).  I wasn't sure if he liked the food (authentic Chinese), but he sure had fun trying on the Chinese costumes (provided by the restaurant) and we took lots of pictures.  You know what I learned?  I learned that one's willingness to embrace another, can transcend age, race, culture and socio-economic background.  

Fast forward forty years, I finally got a chance to meet Fr. Fitzgerald again at Timothy and Teresa's wedding.  As if meeting an old friend, he had the same big smile and spark in his eyes.

Fr. Fitzgerald had always been incredibility generous with our entire Ng family.  His love, compassion and kindness will always be remembered.  May he rest in peace.  May the Lord provide solace to his family/friends/colleagues during this difficult time of grief and loss. 

With love and gratitude,

Susan Ng 

Thank you Father FitzGerald for being our wedding celebrant. Thank you very much for your interesting talk and sharing. May you rest in peace in the hands of our Lord. You will forever live in our memory.     Ivy and Francis

The Farquharson family will greatly miss Fr. Fitz. We have had daily discourse with him as he shared the Providence Villa residence with our mother and we were blessed to listen to his stories of Ireland and Neil McNeil...Fr. Gerry Fitzgerald educated more  students than he ever had as pupils in his class...our community will miss him.

I did enjoyed visiting Fr. Fitzgerald pre COVID. For the past 18 months our visits took the form of regular phone calls sharing memories and jokes. Two weeks ago I was finally able to visit him and I’m so grateful for that. I took him a bottle of his favourite medicine. He was always saying that I shouldn’t do that but I would always tell him that I owed the Spiritans so much more than I could ever repay them. I’ll always treasure the time spent with him. God bless you Fr. Fitz.

Gerry , thanks for your beautiful, human & Spiritan -spiritual life..you’ve taught us to keep hope alive, faith in our lives, & love in our hearts. As you Rest In Peace May we live in peace..our whole family prays in thanks..Frank Vandersteen& Fam. (Thanks Joe O for reminding me to call Fr.Fitz- now we can talk to him directly)

We were very sorry to hear of Fr. Fitzgerald’s death, such a lovely man, liked by all and all the good works he did, he will be sorely missed.  Nora & Syl

Father Fitz  was a very dear friend of our family. I am the youngest of eight siblings, but I remember the stories that were told about some of the Spiritan Priest’s that came over to our home for Sunday dinner.  We lived a short walk from Neil McNeil and my mom and dad loved having their company.  Who wouldn’t want a bunch of Irish priests laughing and telling stories at the dinner table?   Father Fitz was family to us and we were very fortunate to have been able to share in his life.  
Rest In Peace. 

Fr. Fitzgerald was my Chemistry teacher at Neil McNeil in the 1960's. I found him weird sometimes  but loved his philosophical life monologues that often took up all the class time .....chemistry.....don't remember a damn thing...Joe Pokrywa
Class of 1967, now residing in Orlando FL.

I got to know Father Fitz at the Houses of Providence. Due to Alzheimer’s, my mother also lived there, and after her passing, I was introduced to him by my mother’s caregiver, who then became his caregiver and friend. I will always remember how interested Father Fitz was in everyone around him. He made you feel special in his presence. His storytelling and mischievous smile brought so much joy to all who knew him.

I first met Fitz at our Toronto home in 1961 when I was four. Fitz’ aunt, Sr. Peter, Mother Superior of the order that ran my mother Patricia's school in Dublin, was very close to my mother and she wrote asking her to watch out for Fitz in his new land.  I remember the phone call giving Fitz directions to our apartment, which turned out to be not too far from Neil McNeil. 

Ever after this first visit, Fitz was a fixture at our home, becoming very close with all of us, but especially to Patricia whom he came to regard as a sister.  Fitz was a superstar guest at hundreds of events at our home, a brilliant conversationalist and storyteller, extremely knowledgeable on a huge range of topics.  I would save up my tough questions for him each week (who would win between a lion and a bear, why should I not be friends with the devil’s son since he didn’t do anything) and he had answers which would not quite answer, as he wanted me to think.

My fondest memories are golf games with Fitz.  He had a powerful unorthodox swing and his golf clubs were always in need of cleaning. He was infamous for stepping on everyone’s putting lines with his 250 pounds, to quote Wayne O’Reilly “Tell Pete Fleming, Fitz only stepped on my line 5 times today”. 

Fitz performed my parent’s re-affirmation of their wedding vows at their 25th and 50th anniversaries, my wedding, my son’s christening, and represented all that was good about the Catholic church. Fitz was an absolutely fearless fighter for his Catholic convictions, doing whatever he knew to be right, without thought for its impact on him.

Early on I discovered Fitz was exactly 25 years and one day older than me. We would always talk on his birthday, and my last conversation was on his 89th.  His mind was sharp as ever, his mood as positive.  He will lie in rest not far from my mother’s grave, and not far from my home today, and I will think of them both whenever I drive by, conversing again, this time in eternity.
Terry Sweeney

AVIS DE DÉCÈS

Fr. Gerald Fitzgerald CSSp

13 mai 1932 – 4 septembre 2021

Paul O'Connor Funeral Home

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