Obituary of Rita Marion Fitzgerald

Rita Marion Fitzgerald was born in Brooklyn in 1930 to Theodor Hart Schleuning and Marion Lawler Bulger. Rita married Austin Fitzgerald in 1953. She and Austin lived together for many years on James Street in Huntington Station. There, they raised 3 children, Austin, Susan and Lisa and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, among many other milestones and highlights. Family, neighbors, friends, and St. Hugh’s were most important to Rita. Rita also often professed her love for her cousins, Mary, Carol, Joan and their families, for her friends and her neighbors on James Street. Somewhere in between taking care of her husband and children and work, Rita found time for The Rosary Society, The Columbiettes, as well as being the faithful ticket lady for St. Hugh Productions. In the last years of her life, dementia prevented her from keeping in touch with friends as much as she would have wanted and from expressing her love to her family as Rita was truly devoted to her husband, Austin, her children, Austin Jr, Susan and Lisa and her grandchildren, Krista, Kim, Annie, Emma, Aidan and Ciara. Rita will be sorely missed by her children and grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org/nca/donate would be greatly appreciated