Thomas Robert Fitzpatrick

Thomas Robert Fitzpatrick

(1931–2020)

Tom was born Sunday, June 21, 1931, in Oak Park, Illinois, to Francis J. Fitzpatrick and Helen Cecil Vogel. The fourth of five children, Tom lost his mom and newborn brother when he was just 7 years old.  He attended St. Leonard’s in Berwyn, then moved to Hampshire to live with his Aunt Katherine, work a variety of part-time jobs, and attend Hampshire High. 

A hard worker who never stayed in one place for long, Tom joined the Army after high school, serving in Germany during the Korean War. After his discharge, he attended school in Milwaukee for a time, then moved to Washington State, where he worked as a painter on the Hanford nuclear site. Later, he joined Delco Electronics, a division of General Motors, to work on the Thor, Titan, and Minuteman missile programs. He was working in England in 1959 when he met a captivating teacher from Texas. Knowing a good thing when he saw it, Tom married DeLois Bell in Baltimore in 1961. They moved back to Bridlington, England, where they welcomed their oldest son in 1962. 

Returning to the states the following year, the couple settled in North Little Rock, Arkansas, where their twin daughters were born in 1963. Tom soon moved his growing family to Wisconsin, where their youngest daughter arrived in 1965. After a transfer to GM’s Electro-Motive Division in LaGrange, Illinois, the Fitzpatricks moved once again in 1972, this time to Downers Grove, Illinois, where they stayed for 13 years.

In 1985, Tom was transferred to New Orleans, where he worked for several years before retiring from GM in 1987 after 30 years of dedicated service. Deciding that he was far too young for retirement, Tom began work for MKW Power Systems, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Although they loved the weather in Carolina, when Tom retired from MKW in March 1999, he and De returned to Illinois to be closer to their kids and grandkids. 

In 2011, after more than a dozen moves and a lifetime of occupations — from grain elevator worker to technical writer, soda jerk to engineer, house painter to soldier — Tom settled in his last home in Downers Grove, where he passed away on July 16, 2020 surrounded in his last days by his wife, children, and grandchildren. 

Tom never knew a stranger. His friendliness and willingness to lend a hand, wicked sense of humor, always-busy hands, and ability to fix almost anything were legendary among his kids and their friends. He gave his children and grandchildren many gifts: a strong work ethic, a commitment to family, a penchant for salty language, and the compulsion to stretch a story to its breaking point. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. 

Tom is survived by his wife of 58 years, DeLois; his children Mitchell Fitzpatrick, Angie (Curt) Neuman, Amy (Lance) Stephens, and Mary Fitzpatrick; grandchildren Jack, Dan, and Rachel Stephens and Grace Fitzpatrick;  his sister Mary Brown, brothers John and Paul Fitzpatrick, and many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents Francis and Helen and brothers James and infant Michael.

In lieu of flowers, Tom’s family asks that you make a donation in his name to Mercy Home for Boys and Girls. 

Tom will be laid to rest at a private graveside service at Saint Charles Borromeo Catholic Cemetery in Hampshire, Illinois. 

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