Father Timothy Fitzpatrick, C.P., St. Paul of the Cross Province (1874-1953)

Born Francis Fitzpatrick on December 18, 1874 in Brooklyn, New York, he was the son of Timothy and Ann Hogan Fitzpatrick. He went to school at the Fourteen Holy Martyrs. After working for several years he decided to enter the Passionists. He professed his vows on July 2, 1894. His religious name was Timothy. He was ordained on January 18, 1903 in Cincinnati, Ohio by Archbishop Henry Moeller. For several years he was a parish priest in West Hoboken, New Jersey. On October 17, 1911 he was installed as rector of St. Ann’s Monastery, Scranton, Pennsylvania. He remained in that position as superior and pastor until ill health forced him to resign in October 1916. In 1918 he became a military chaplain in the U.S.Army during World War I. On July 13, 1919 he left for Corpus Christi, Texas where he was Vicar General to Bishop Paul Nussbaum, C.P. When the accident to Bishop Nussbuam led to his resignation, Father Fitzpatrick carried on as the administrator of the diocese until Bishop Ledvina was appointed on June 14, 1921. When Bishop Nussbaum was assigned to the diocese of Marquette on November 14, 1922 Father Fitzpatrick was assigned there as the chancellor for the diocese. In between he was assigned to Scranton. His later years after he concluded his service in the Marquette diocese was as a member of the Jamaica, New York community where he worked on cataloguing the monastery library. In some ways he was described as a traditionalist and somewhat stubborn in his desire to implement the new ideals of Paul of the Cross and religious life. He was a member of the Riverdale, New York community when he became ill. Several weeks before his death, he was hospitalized, and destroyed all the correspondence in his possession.