Bob Fitzpatrick

Bob was born in Chicago, the 8th child of Peter and Alma Fitzpatrick. Before him came Jim, Maureen, Elaine, Joseph, Michael, Colleen, and Yvonne. After him came Thomas, RIta, Barbara, John, William, Dorothy, Catherine, and Margaret, for a grand total of 16 children.

Bob attended grades 1-8 at St. Leo. He did 3 years at St. Ignatius H.S. until flunking Trigonometry and 3rd year Latin. He finished H.S at Leo, graduating in June 1967.

When Bob was 16 or 17 he was arrested for assaulting a policeman. Bob carried the shame and dishonor of this for the rest of his life. The police officer was blameless.

Bob joined the Army after H.S. and served in Vietnam as an infantry rifleman. He was wounded in May 1968 and medevaced to the U.S.

After a few weeks in hospitals, he was then stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. After a few months there in Texas, Bob decided he didn’t want to be in the Army anymore and so informed his superiors. Bob spent 3 months in the stockade. His parents hired a local lawyer versed in military law and Bob avoided a court martial by accepting a less than honorable discharge. This was June 1969.

Bob returned to Chicago and held various jobs over the next couple of years, never very long at each one. He tried college, doing a couple of semesters at Bogan Junior College. He got hired by Yellow Cab and was able to keep that job for 5 years. One night after stopping at a tavern to visit with friends, he was arrested for a D.W.I. His brother Mike helped get a lawyer and Bob

was able to keep driving a cab. He never again drank and drove a cab.

In 1975 Bob’s dad hired him to work in his law office as a clerk. Bob drank every evening after work and sometimes his dad complained that he smelled of booze from the night before.

Bob was let go after a year and not having money to pay rent on his apartment he moved in with his brother Tom.

In April 1977 his mother and sister Colleen intervened in Bob’s situation and suggested he move to Cincinnati to go through alcohol treatment. This he did and Bob got some job training and worked in a machine shop for a couple of years. Bob also enrolled at University of Cincinnati and took courses in the evening and weekends. Meanwhile Bob’s lawyer brother Mike was able to get Bob’s military discharge upgraded to honorable. That was very gratifying to Bob and made him feel like a citizen again.

Then more good things happened. He was able to get G.I. Bill benefits for school and get disability benefits from the VA for his war wounds. He was always grateful to his fellow citizens for these benefits.

Bob moved to Albuquerque where his brother Mike lived and finished college at the University of New Mexico in 1984. He then worked for the Post Office for a year and then moved to Seattle.

In Seattle he worked for a couple of months for a janitorial service cleaning smoke damage. He also did a couple of stints as a Salvation Army bell ringer around the holidays. Bob was visited in Seattle by his older brother Joe and Joe’s young son John Daniel. This visit motivated Bob to take the Census Bureau exam. He got a good score and worked at the Census Bureau for more than a year. His next job was as a dishwasher at the Arrowhead Cafe on Eastlake Ave near Lake Union. Bob kept that restaurant job for 2 years and then took the Federal Clerk Exam. That started his 30 year career at the Internal Revenue Service.

In late 2008 brother Joe began his sailboat journey from California to Florida. Bob took time off work and visited Joe for a couple of days in Panama.

In August 2017 Bob was honored to be a delegate at the convention of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) held in Puerto Rico. On that trip Bob visited brother Mike in Albuquerque, sister Barbara in Florida, and brother Bill in Madison, Wisconsin.

Another highlight of Bob’s IRS career is that Bob was honored to serve 3 years as secretary of Chapter 30 of NTEU.

Late in 2024 Bob was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer of the lung and hip.

Bob is survived by his dear friend Elissa Voland. He was predeceased by his parents and by brother Jim, Joe, Mike, and by his sisters Colleen, Barbara, and Dortohy, Still living are sisters Maureen, Elaine, Yvonne, Rita, Catherine, and Margaret, and brothers Tom, John, and Bill.