Obituary of John S Fitzpatrick

John S. Fitzpatrick, of Summit, NJ, passed away on August 5, 2015 at Morristown Medical Center. He was 71. John was born in Newark, NJ to the late William and Isabelle (Wean) Fitzpatrick on 9/17/43. He was their only child. John spent his early years in East Orange, NJ, attending Our Lady Help of Christians school until the 8th grade. The family then moved to Lakewood, where John graduated from Lakewood High School in 1961. He went on to earn a B.S. in Political Science at Seton Hall University (class of '65) and a Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers Law School, Newark, in 1968. Admitted to the bar in 1968, John clerked for Judges Frederick C. Kentz, Jr. and John L. McGuire of the Union County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court during the 1968 and 1969 terms. He served as a Deputy Attorney General for the State of New Jersey from 1969-1976. While a DAG, he served as Assistant Section Chief of the NJ Claims Service Section from 1971-1976. During his tenure with the State, John drafted the State's new Tort Claims Act and tried or supervised all Tort Claims Act cases from the effective date of the Act in July, 1972 until he left for private practice in July, 1976, when he joined the law firm of Haggerty and Donohue of Union, and later Summit. He was a founding partner of the firm Fitzpatrick, Reilly, Supple and Gaul of New Providence, NJ from its inception in 1989 until his retirement in 2004. John was recognized as the State's leading expert on the Tort Claims Act for more than 30 years and authored the book New Jersey Tort Claims Act (Title 59) and several other publications concerning governmental liability in NJ. John lectured and taught on the subjects of complying with the NJ Tort Claims Act, governmental immunity and liability, civil rights actions and the art of cross examination at Rutgers - The State University - Department of Government Research, the NJ Institute for Continuing Legal Education, the NJ Traffic Safety Council and the NJ Division of Correction and Parole. John is survived by his wife of 43 years, Linda (nee Katz) and their sons Michael Kevin of Manchester, CT, and Stephen Daniel of Summit. He is also survived by his cousins Joan Murphy of Sierra Vista, AZ, Phyllis Gorman of Archbald, PA, and Adele Knotts of Washington, NJ-- the sisters he never had-- and their children and grandchildren. When John retired in 2004, he was delighted to finally have time to devote to volunteer and leisure pursuits. He served many times as a judge for the Rutgers Law Moot Court and became an avid family history researcher. He was also a founding member and served on the board of the newly resurrected Friends of the Summit Public Library from 2013-2015. He loved to read and travel to places of historic interest. In recent years he and Linda had rediscovered the joys of living so close to NYC, and often attended concerts and plays there as well as nearer to home. Funeral arrangements will be private. A memorial gathering will be held soon at a date and place to be determined. You are invited to leave your contact information here on the bailey funeral home website in the condolence page for Mr. Fitzpatrick if you would like to be notified of the time and place. The family wishes to extend its gratitude to the extraordinary nurses of the Morristown Medical Center Gagnon Cardiovascular Institute CVICU and to Dr. Jessie Wilt for their unparalleled professionalism and unstinting kindness to both John and his family. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in John's memory to the Friends of the Summit Public Library, 75 Maple Street, Summit 07901 or Patriot's Path Council, Boys Scouts of America. If donating to the BSA, please be sure to indicate 'in memory of John Fitzpatrick' or your gift will just go into the general coffers rather than to our local council. The BSA website for donations is https://aplacetogive.scouting.org/magento/index.php/give-local-patriots-path.html . Checks may be mailed to Boys Scouts of America, 1 Saddle Road, Cedar Knolls, NJ 07927.