Marjoirie Fitzpatrick

Marjorie A. Fitzpatrick, 74, retired associate professor of French and internship coordinator emerita at Dickinson College, died on Saturday, November 12, 2011 in Port Royal. Born January 1, 1937, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, she was a daughter of the late George and Eileen (McArdle) Fitzpatrick.

Valedictorian of her class at the former Searles High School in Great Barrington, she also graduated first in her class from the College of Our Lady of the Elms in Chicopee, Mass., with a B.A. degree in French. She earned a master's degree in French from Smith College and was awarded a Fulbright Travel Grant by the French Government to spend the academic year 1959-60 as an assistante d'anglais, teaching conversational English at the Lycee des Jeunes Filles in Poitiers, France. Upon her return she taught French for two years in the Solon [Ohio] School System, followed by doctoral studies at the University of Toronto, from which she received a Ph.D. in French in 1968. Following appointments to the French Department at Smith College and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, she moved to Carlisle in 1975, and taught French at Dickinson from then until her retirement in 1998 except for a one-year a visiting appointment at Bucknell University.

A specialist in Quebec/French-Canadian history, literature and politics, she was the author of many articles and reviews in those fields and presented numerous papers at professional conferences throughout the United States and Canada. She was Assistant Editor for Quebecois literature of The French Review, journal of the American Association of Teachers of French, for 21 years, and served a four-year term as Book Review Editor of Quebec Studies, journal of the American Council for Quebec Studies. In addition to those two organizations, she was a member of the Association for Canadian Studies in the United States, the Cumberland County Historical Society, the Friends of the Dickinson Library, the Greater Carlisle Chapter of the NAACP, the St. Patrick's Parish Heritage Society and the National Museum of the American Indian (founding member). As Dickinson's internship coordinator she also belonged to the National Society for Experiential Education. While living in Massachusetts she belonged to the former Mount Everett Circle of the Daughters of Isabella, companion organization of the Knights of Columbus.

She was noted for her extensive travels over many years with lifelong friend Mary Kirtley (now deceased) throughout North America, Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

She was a communicant of St. Patrick's Church in Carlisle, where she served as a lector and substitute organist and was a former teacher in the parish's CCD program. She also played background piano music for the monthly food distribution at Project SHARE and on frequent occasions at the Salvation Army's My Brother's Table. An avid Democrat, she served for several terms during retirement as the Democratic Committeewoman for the Carlisle Fifth Ward, receiving the Cumberland County Democratic Party's first Chair's Award as Committeeperson of the Year in 1999.

In addition to her parents, Miss Fitzpatrick was predeceased by an older sister, Mary Teresa, who died in childhood, and by twin nephews, Daren S. and Mark J. Fitzpatrick. She is survived by two brothers, G. Patrick Fitzpatrick and Michael P. Fitzpatrick (and wife Elaine), all of Great Barrington, Mass., and by three nephews, a niece, three grandnephews, three grandnieces, and several cousins.
A viewing for Miss Fitzpatrick will be held at Hoffman-Roth Funeral Home and Crematory, 219 North Hanover Street, Carlisle on Wednesday, November 16, 2011 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., with recitation of the Rosary at 8 p.m. Very Rev. William C. Forrey, VF, pastor of St. Patrick's, will celebrate a Mass of Christian Burial for Miss Fitzpatrick at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 17, 2011 at St. Patrick Catholic Church, 85 Marsh Drive, Carlisle, with burial to follow at St. Patrick's New Cemetery off McClure's Gap Road in North Middleton.
Memorial contributions may be made to Project SHARE, P.O. Box 842, Carlisle, PA 17013 or to St. Patrick's Church, 152 E. Pomfret Street, Carlisle, PA 17013.