Timothy Fitzgerald

Timothy Paul Fitzgerald, age 93, passed away April 19, 2010, in Bozeman, MT. He was born on December 27, 1916, in Waterbury, CT, and attended elementary and high school in Waterbury, Oakville, and Danbury, CT. He graduated from high school in June 1935, and on October 2, 1935, enlisted in the U.S. Navy. His first assignment was to the Medical Corps on the East Coast until 1939 when he was reassigned to the Oakland, CA, Naval Hospital. He also served on the USS Ranger, an aircraft carrier, and the USS Colorado, a battleship, on which his brother, Tom, was serving. In September, 1941, he was transferred to Mobile Hospital #2, Aiea Heights, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Hawaii. He witnessed the first Japanese planes that attacked the sea plane hangar in Pearl Harbor and witnessed the sinking of the USS Arizona. He saw a huge cloud of smoke and when it cleared the USS Arizona was gone. He was later shipped back to the Naval Receiving Station, San Francisco, and helped to care for the sick and wounded on the trip back to the west coast. He married Mildred Schweigart in San Francisco, CA, on May 23, 1942. On August 1, 1942, he was promoted to a Chief Pharmacist Mate and in September 1942, he received classified orders to proceed to #8220;Acorn Red One#8221; which was Guadalcanal, one of the hardest fought battles of WW II. He helped set up a 200-bed ship hospital and a field hospital once the island was somewhat secured. That little base hospital treated 2000 patients. He returned to the Naval Hospital in Oakland, CA, was promoted to Warrant Officer and was in the San Francisco area when the Japanese surrendered. He again served on the East Coast and in 1957 was transferred to the US Naval Air Station, New Orleans, LA. On September 1, 1958, he retired from the Navy as a Chief Warrant Officer, W2, and moved to Bozeman, MT, with his wife, Mildred, and two children, Kathy and Tim. He had visited Bozeman and decided that was the place to retire. He served as an officer manager at the Bozeman Deaconess Hospital, Gallatin Farmers Company, Don Norem Chevrolet, and McLees Sheet Metal, where he was also a part-owner. He belonged to the Elks, Bozeman Lodge #463, and served as the Exalted Ruler in 1967-68 and later served as the District Deputy Grand Exalter Ruler. While Exalted Ruler he was instrumental in presenting to the Bozeman School Board the need for a speech and hearing clinician. The following year, the district employed a clinician to help elementary school children. Throughout his years in Bozeman he enjoyed hunting, fishing, skiing, and golfing. He enjoyed talking about his Navy career and telling sea stories as he called them. He served his country with dignity and was always foremost an officer in the US Navy. He returned to Hawaii for the 50th, 60th, and at the age of 90, the 65th Pearl Harbor Day Commemorations. In 1999, he met his golf buddy, Marjorie Shanholtzer, a wonderful partner, and spent his remaining years with her. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mildred Fitzgerald, son, Timothy Fitzgerald, his parents, Timothy Paul and Anne Fitzgerald, brothers William, Thomas, John and Maurice and sisters Elizabeth and Muriel. He is survived by his daughter, Kathy Foster and husband, Skip, Las Vegas, NV, his granddaughter, Thresa Pattee, San Francisco, CA, and grandson, Jeffrey Fitzgerald, Marina Del Rey, CA, and brother Joseph Fitzgerald in Connecticut. Arrangements are in the care of Dahl Funeral Chapel. Visitation will be at 10:00 am on Friday, April 23, 2010 at Dahl Funeral Chapel with Funeral services to follow at 11:00 a.m. on Friday at Dahl Funeral Chapel. Interment will follow at Sunset Hill Cemetery. A reception at the Elks Lodge in Bozeman, will be held following the grave side services. Memorials in his name may be made to the Elks Lodge, 205 Haggerty Ln, Ste 160, Bozeman, MT 59715.