Obituary of The Honourable John James Fitzpatrick

The Honourable John J. Fitzpatrick (Retired Judge of the Supreme Court of Ontario) At St. Michael�s Hospital on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 after a long illness. Beloved husband of Joan, with whom he shared 61 wonderful years. Dear father of Kathy Seccombe (David), John Fitzpatrick, Margaret Ann Hanly (Charles), Moira Macdonald (Bob), Janet Morrison (Paul), Sheila Stevens (Edward), James Fitzpatrick (Suzanne), and Joan Rom-Colthoff (Pim). Adored papa of twelve much loved, grandchildren: Will, Roger, and Jenny Seccombe, Elizabeth Hanly, Kaeli and Michael Macdonald, Drew and Brendan Morrison, Katie and Patrick Stevens, Carl and Teija Rom-Colthoff. Born in Toronto in 1914, he graduated from St. Michael�s College, University of Toronto in 1939. In WWII he flew the world from Greenland to Burma as a Flight Lieutenant pilot with the RCAF 164 Squadron, Transport Command. When the war ended in 1945, he married Wren Lieutenant Joan Cowie and enrolled in Osgoode Law School, graduating in 1948. He practiced law with Phelan, O�Brien, Phelan and Fitzpatrick, with Gardiner, Roberts, Anderson, Conlin and Fitzpatrick, and with Fitzpatrick and Poss. He was a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Society of Insurance Counsel, and Past President of the Advocates Society. He was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Ontario in 1982. He loved his life in the courts, both as a lawyer and a judge. "Fitz� was a founding member of the Queen�s Club and he liked tennis courts - almost as much as he liked the law courts. He was a devout Catholic, a Knight Commander of the Holy Sepulchre, who had an enduring faith and he found joy and solace in the mass, as well as in sunsets and full moons in Muskoka. We would like to offer our sincere thanks to Dr. Russell Goldman and the Home Care team, Integracare, particularly, Loreta Diel and the Palliative Care Team at St. Michael�s Hospital. The funeral will take place on Friday, August 11, 2006 at 10 o�clock in OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP CHURCH, 78 Clifton Road, Toronto M4T 2G2 (St. Clair and Mt. Pleasant). Interment at Mount Hope Cemetery. In Lieu of flowers, a donation to St. Michael�s Hospital Palliative Care Unit, 30 Bond Street, Toronto M5P 3H4 or the St. Vincent de Paul Society, c/o Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church would be appreciated.