It is with regret that we inform you of the death of Patrick Fitzpatrick, class of 1952.
Rest in peace.
Fr. PATRICK JOSEPH FITZPATRICK, CSSp September 21,1934 –
December 7, 2023 FR. PATRICK FITZPATRICK (Pat) of the Spiritan
Province of TransCanada died peacefully in the early morning hours of
December 7th, 2023. Fr. Pat was predeceased by his parents, Sean and
Mary (nee O’Brien) and his only brother, Brian. He is survived by distant
family members and close friends in Ireland, the United States and
Canada. Fr. Pat was born on September 21, 1934 in Rathmines, Dublin,
Ireland. He made his first profession of vows as a Spiritan on September
8, 1953 and was ordained to the priesthood on July 14, 1963. During his
70 years of Religious Life and his 60 years as a priest, Fr. Pat made
many important contributions to Catholic education in Ontario and to the
life of the Spiritan Province of TransCanada, as well as positively
impacting the lives of innumerable people with his gentle, thoughtful
pastoral care. First assigned to Canada in 1964, Fr. Pat taught at Neil
McNeil High School where he headed the Religion department while
also serving as the Spiritan Formation Director. In 1980, Fr. Pat joined
the Catholic Teachers’ Centre of the Metropolitan Separate School
Board. In 1991, Fr. Pat returned to Neil McNeil High School as Chaplain
and later served as the Adult Faith Consultant for the Dufferin Peel
Roman Catholic School Board until his “retirement” in 1999. From the
time of his official “retirement,” Fr. Pat worked actively in service of the
Spiritan community, and in various pastoral ministries in the Archdiocese
of Toronto. Fr. Pat served as Laval House Superior, as a member of
several Provincial Councils and he dutifully served 6 years as Provincial
Superior of the TransCanada Spiritans. As Provincial Superior, Fr. Pat
was one of the founding members of Joint Apostolic Ministries and its
refugee outreach ministry, Becoming Neighbours. Since 2002, up until
April this year (more than 21 years), Fr. Pat also served faithfully as
Chaplain to the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association (OCSTA).
Fr. Pat will also be remembered for his award winning work as editor of
the TransCanada missionary magazine, Spiritan from 1999 until just a
couple of years before his death. For many years, Fr. Pat also touched
the lives of many people through his morning Masses and homilies
televised on Vision TV. Fr. Pat was known for his strong interest in, and
commitment to, Catholic education as well as to bringing an awareness
of the missions to all. He will be missed by his Spiritan confreres, the
education community in Ontario, the Irish community in Toronto and
beyond, and his many, many friends in Canada, the USA and his native
Ireland. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Funeral arrangements
for Fr. Pat Fitzpatrick: Visitation: Monday December 18 from 3:00-5:00
PM and from 7:00-9:00 PM (with Vigil prayer service at 8:00 PM).
O’Connor Funeral Home, 1939 Lawrence Ave E, Scarborough, ON,
M1R 2Y8. Funeral Mass: Tuesday December 19 at 11:00 AM. St.
Joseph’s Church, 200 Morrish Road, Scarborough, ON, M1C 1E8. The
Mass will be followed by a light reception in the church hall. There will be
a live stream link available on the O’Connor Funeral Home website for
those unable to attend the Mass in person. Burial will follow at Holy
Cross Cemetery, Toronto at 2:30 PM.
