Obituary of Irene Fitzpatrick

Irene Fitzpatrick, age 85, died Friday, December 30, 2016 at Morristown Memorial Hospital in Morristown, NJ. Irene was born in NY City on Second Avenue in NY to the late Alexander and Bertha Sumski. When she was three years old the family moved to Brooklyn where she and her brother, Edward, were raised. She attended Franklin K. Lane High School in Brooklyn and after graduating in 1948 was employed by Trinity Bag & Paper Co. in NY. She worked there for 5 years and in 1953 got a job with Colonial Airlines as a Stewardess. Colonial merged with Eastern Airlines and she worked there until 1957 when she married Gerard who worked for Exxon Oil Co. He was on the auditing staff and they traveled extensively. At first, they lived in Cambridge, Mass, then moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia and St. John’s Newfoundland. They traveled to Havana, Cuba, Baton Rouge, LA, Tulsa, OK, Billings, Montana and then up to Canada again to Edmonton, Alberta and Calgary, Alberta. They also spent some time in Panama and later lived in Brazil for two years. Gerard was then assigned to Exxon in Florham Park, NJ. In 1969, they moved to Oldwick, NJ where they finally settled and she became a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Church. During this time Irene raised Newfoundland dogs. In 1994, Gerard passed away and Irene stayed in Oldwick. For a brief time, she attended St. Elizabeth’s Church in Far Hills. In 2012, she returned to Our Lady of Lourdes Church. Along with her parents and husband, Gerard, Irene was predeceased by her brother, Edward in 2001. She is survived by 7 nieces & nephews and 10 grand-nieces & nephews. A funeral liturgy will be held on Friday, January 6, 2017 at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Whitehouse Station at 9:30 AM. Friends may visit with the family on Thursday from 2:00 to 4:00PM and 7:00 to 9:00PM at the Kearns Funeral Home, 103 Old Highway 28, Whitehouse, NJ.