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MEMORIAL ARTICLE
Published Assembly Jul '92
James Drummond Fitzgerald No.15607 Class of 1946
Died 25 May 1987 at Boston, Massachusetts, aged 61 years. Interment:
Milton Cemetery, Milton, Massachusetts
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James Drummond Fitzgerald was born 26 September
1925 in Milton, Massachusetts. Jim's father owned and operated
a major construction business in the Boston area, and Jim, at
an early age, developed a keen interest in the engineering side
of the construction business. Jim grew up in Milton and attended
and graduated from the Milton Academy. His father had been a
captain in the Corps of Engineers during World War I, so a patriotic
Jim was moved to obtain an appointment to West Point, entering
on 1 July 1943 as a member of the Class of 1946.
Life as a cadet was tolerable for Jim. Academics
were no problem, especially those subjects dealing with the sciences.
He always managed to stay ahead of the Tactical Department. A
member of the Ski Club each year, Jim thoroughly enjoyed skiing
at Bear Mountain and loved ski jumping. One of his roommates,
Bill Gavin, recalled that Jim was a well-organized and disciplined
person. His outlook on life was constantly optimistic. Jim was
an oasis of calm when others of his classmates were scrambling
and scurrying about. Another roommate, Bob Channon, recalled
that Jim was always willing to help his academically less-gifted
classmates. Besides skiing, Jim was on the track team and was
very active in religious activities. When graduation rolled around,
Jim became a second lieutenant in the Ordnance Corps.
After attending the Ordnance Basic Officer's Course
at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, Jim was first assigned
to an Ordnance unit in Germany. Following this tour as a unit
officer, Jim was transferred to White Sands, New Mexico. In 1950,
he decided to leave the Army and join his father's construction
business in Massachusetts. He started as an assistant engineer
and later became a vice president. Concurrently, Jim enrolled
as a student at the Harvard Law School. In 1953 he received his
law degree and joined the firm of Foley, Hoag and Eliot as an
attorney in Boston. After a year, Jim returned to be vice president
of Fitzgerald Construction, responsible for heavy construction
projects in Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. In December
of 1955, Jim married Susan Budd Guernsey in Stockton, California.
In 1963, then-Governor of Massachusetts Endicott
Peabody appointed Jim as commissioner of the Department of Public
Works for the State of Massachusetts. During his two year term
in this position, Jim pioneered the use of computer applications
and increased research and development. In 1965 Jim became the
general manager for Engineering and Construction for the Massachusetts
Bay Transportation Authority. In this position, Jim was responsible
for organizing and administering a $300 million expansion plan.
He became a member of the Mobility Advisory Board for the US
Army Mobility Command in Warren, Michigan and in 1967 received
the Army's Meritorious Civilian Service Award for his work.
In 1965, Jim set out to attain another of his lifelong
ambitions. Already an excellent skier, Jim's ambition was to
become truly expert. He went to study with his friend and renowned
ski instructor, Hans Seisl. At the end of four years, Hans offered
Jim a position as ski instructor. In recalling Jim, Hans Seisl
said, "Jim was a dependable and sincere man. He took a lot
of pride in his work and put his all into everything he did.
He loved his family and friends very much. Everyone loved Big
Jim ..."
In 1969, Jim became vice president in charge of
construction and development for the Great Northern Land Corporation,
responsible for 2,400 acres of recreational properties in New
Hampshire and Vermont. From there, Jim became a consultant to
the National Shawmut Bank of Boston, joined the Greiner Corporation
as a vice president in 1977 and became project director for the
Maine General Aviation State Standards Project. Next he was project
director for the Augusta, Maine Airport Master Plan. Then, project
director for the Gardner Airport Master Plan, followed by the
Providencetown Airport Improvements and Master Plan. Next Jim
became project director for Boston's Logan International Airport.
In 1985, Jim became a consulting engineer with the Cantitoe Corporation
while still working for Greiner.
Jim's life began to unravel in 1985. His beloved
wife Susan had developed cancer in 1983. The disease was in remission
until 1985 when it returned in the fall of that year. Jim discovered
about the same time that he had leukemia. He had just come out
of the Intensive Care Unit when Susan again entered the hospital.
Jim and Susan were in adjoining rooms at the hospital. Susan
died of her cancer in December 1985. It was Jim's faith that
helped him face his tribulations during this period. James Drummond
Fitzgerald died in the Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston
on 25 May 1987. He was survived by his children, James Jr., Edward,
Mary and Douglas, a sister Joan and a brother Richard.
Jim never lost those traits that endeared him to
his classmates as a cadet. He continued to cherish his friends
and gave unstintingly of his time and efforts to those in need.
He felt it a privilege to participate in civic activities in
his hometown and to teach religion in his home parish. Jim was
a good man in every sense of the word. His sister recalled that
Jim believed, more than anyone else she had ever known, in "Duty,
Honor, Country." Sam Lessey, USMA '45, who went to Harvard
Law School with Jim and was an oft-times ski partner recalled,
"I remember standing atop many a New England mountain with
Jim, usually under adverse weather conditions, when we selected
a trail down. No trail daunted Jim; he took them all in stride
just as he took the rigorous grind of law school and other challenges
of his life. He gracefully and successfully took every trail
in life just as it came." Jim's niece, Katherine Putnam,
recalled, "It is my fervent prayer that my son grow up to
be as great a man as his great uncle Jim Fitzgerald." Jim
is missed by all who knew and loved him. He was deeply religious,
a loving husband and father, a steadfast friend and classmate.
The Class of 1946 is proud to say, "Well Done, Jim; Be Thou
At Peace!"
'46 Memorial Article Project and his son, James, Jr.
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