Elcia Correne Coley Fitzgerald

Elcia Correne Coley Fitzgerald passed Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015, in Fort Worth. Graveside service: 3 p.m. Wednesday in Crestview Memorial Park in Wichita Falls. Visitation: 2 to 6 p.m. Tuesday at Moore Bowen Funeral Home.

Elcia was born to the late Tilden Coley and Nona Hargis Coley on Dec. 19, 1923, in DeKalb. She enlisted in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in July 1943. Following basic training, she was assigned to the U.S. Army Air Corps and transferred to London, England, during the Blitz. Although London was under heavy bombardment at the time of her service, she said the Blitz didn't make her as nervous as her crossing of the Atlantic Ocean as a passenger of the Isle de France during which time a submarine alert was sounded. She did not like boats. Elcia was transferred to Paris, France; Frankfurt, Germany; and back to Paris. During leave time, she traveled extensively throughout England, Scotland, Belgium and Italy. One of the highlights was an audience with Pope Pius XII which she attended with a group of her friends.

She married Benny Lloyd Fitzgerald Sr. on Jan. 4, 1947, in Texarkana, Texas. They lived in Wichita Falls from March 1956, where she was employed with the Wichita Falls City/School Tax Office until December 1978 when she moved to Arlington. She was a tax assessor/collector with the Arlington ISD until her retirement in 1994. She was a member of the Business & Professional Women's Club in Wichita Falls, Arlington and Fort Worth.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Benny Lloyd Fitzgerald Sr.; sons, Benny Lloyd Fitzgerald Jr. and Brian Coley Fitzgerald; granddaughter, Amy Lyne Fitzgerald; and sister, Dolly Bonner.

Survivors: Sons, James and wife, Emma Fitzgerald, of Wichita Falls, Don Marlo and wife, Gaye Fitzgerald, of Arlington; granddaughter, Melanie and husband, Chris Cline; great-grandson, Garrett of Wichita Falls; brothers, Roy Coley of Texarkana, and Calvin and wife, Gaylia Coley, of Wake Village; sister, Erma Reed of Tulsa, Okla.; aunt, Helen Hoffman of Annona; and numerous nieces and nephews.