MADISON — Fr. John Thomas Fitzgerald, a retired priest of the Diocese of Madison, died on Saturday, Aug. 21.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Thursday, Aug. 26, at Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, 401 S. Owen Dr. Bishop William H. Bullock, bishop emeritus of Madison, was the principal celebrant with Fr. Thomas Marr as homilist.
Burial was in St. Mary Catholic Cemetery in Mineral Point.
Born in Decatur, Ill., Father Fitzgerald attended St. Thomas Grade School, St. Teresa High School, and Milliken University, all in Decatur. He attended St. Francis Seminary, Milwaukee.
He was ordained to the priesthood on May 18, 1968, at St. Raphael Cathedral in Madison.
He served as associate pastor at St. Patrick Parish, Madison; Nativity of Mary Parish, Janesville; and St. Joseph Parish, Dodgeville. While in Janesville he was chaplain at the Rock County Health Care Center.
He was administrator and then pastor of St. Patrick Parish, Hollandale, with the mission of St. Michael Parish, Yellowstone.
He was also pastor at the following parishes: St. Michael, Berlin; St. Luke, Plain, with the mission of St. Patrick, Loreto; St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Portage; and St. Stephen, Clinton.
He served as spiritual moderator for the Madison Diocesan Council of Catholic Women.
He retired with the title “pastor emeritus” in 2007.
Father Fitzgerald is survived by several cousins. He was preceded in death by his father Daniel in 1986, his mother Alma in 1987, and a number of aunts and uncles from the Fitzgerald and Bergan families.