Former Fairfield president dies

The Rev. Thomas R. Fitzgerald , S.J., a former Fairfield University president, died Washington, D.C. at the age of 82 on Monday.

Fitzgerald, the sixth president of the university, died from myocardial infarction at the Wolfington Jesuit Residence at Georgetown University where he retired to in 1999.

Early in his career, Fitzgerald held posts at Georgetown, acting as dean of the college from 1954 to 1955, and academic vice president from 1955 to 1957.

After serving as president at Fairfield University and Fairfield College Preparatory School from 1973 to 1979, Fitzgerald went on to serve as president at St. Louis University until 1987.

His successor at Fairfield, President Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J., remembered Fitzgerald as a fine leader.

“Father Fitzgerald was an outstanding Jesuit and an extraordinary administrator,” Kelley said. “As academic vice president at Georgetown and then as president, first at Fairfield and then at St. Louis, he contributed significantly to the development of those three institutions.

“In each case, through his untiring efforts and dedication, he left those universities greatly improved when his term of service was over. He will always be remembered with admiration and affection by those who knew how much he contributed to Jesuit higher education,” said Kelley.

Fitzgerald was born in Washington, D. C., on Feb. 23, 1922. He attended Gonzaga High School, Georgetown University and entered the Roman Catholic Society of Jesus in 1939. He was ordained a priest in 1952 in Louvain Belgium.

Fitzgerald received a liceniate degree in sacred theology from Louvain and a doctorate in classical languages from the University of Chicago.