Eugene J. Fitzpatrick, a Franklin, Mass., resident who lived in Greenville, R.I., for 50 years, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. He was 87.
For 46 years, he was the loving husband of Dorothy A. (Reall) Fitzpatrick, who passed in 2009. He worked as an engineer and manager for the New England Telephone Company for nearly 30 years.
Born in Providence, he was the son of Andrew F. Fitzpatrick and Marie C. (Russell) Fitzpatrick. He graduated from La Salle Academy in Providence in 1956 and joined the U.S. Army, serving as an X-ray technician in Germany. He graduated from Bryant College (now Bryant University) in 1976 with a degree in business administration.
For 50 years, he was a communicant of St. Philip Church in Greenville. He volunteered as a coach for youth softball, baseball, and basketball teams, and was a Boy Scout leader.
Mr. Fitzpatrick’s life was a Rhode Island story. He served as an altar boy at St. Michael the Archangel in South Providence. He and his brother shagged foul balls hit out of McCoy Stadium by the Pawtucket Slaters. He met the love of his life at Scarborough Beach and took her dancing on their first date at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet. At a Bryant football halftime giveaway, he tried to kick a field goal wearing Florsheim shoes. He loved to dip littlenecks in melted butter and to slice into Black Angus steak at Twin Oaks. He bought his children bikes at Benny’s. And on hot summer days, he enjoyed nothing more than barbecuing while listening to the Red Sox on the transistor radio at Waterman’s lake.
He is survived by a daughter, Debra J. (Fitzpatrick) Phillips, and her husband, John F. Phillips of Franklin, Mass.; by a son, Edward R. Fitzpatrick and his wife, Ellen L. Foley, of Providence; and by three grandchildren, Macie Phillips, Ned Fitzpatrick, and Jake Fitzpatrick. He was the brother of the late Andrew F. Fitzpatrick and the late Maureen (Fitzpatrick) Erickson.
His funeral will be held at 9a.m. Tuesday, August 5, 2025, from the Anderson-Winfield Funeral Home, Route 44 at Greenville Common, Greenville. A Mass of Christian Burial, to which relatives and friends are invited, will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, August 5, 2025, in St. Philip Church, 622 Putnam Pike, Greenville. Burial in Highland Park Cemetery. Calling hours will be from 4 to 7 p.m. on Monday, August 4, 2025, at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers donations in his memory may be made to Wounded Warrior Project, Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758516, Topeka, Kansas 66675-8516.