Father John J. Fitzpatrick, a missionary priest with the Redemptorist Fathers, died September 15. For the past eight years, he had been stationed at Sacred Heart Church in Griffin and served as priest-in-charge of the Catholic Missions in Barnesville, Thomaston and Forsyth.

Father Fitzpatrick was born June 16, 1913 and was ordained to the priesthood on June 19, 1938. He spent his early years as a professor at St. Mary's College in North East, PA.

During World War II, Father Fitzpatrick served in the U.S. Army as a Chaplain. Following his discharge, he worked in the Mission Field of Paraguay, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

He also taught in the Seminary of the Holy Redeemer in Ponta Grossa, Brazil, for a number of years before returning to the United States to work in Florida and Georgia.

A Mass of Resurrection was conducted for Father Fitzpatrick on Sunday, September 17, at the Andrew Dillon Funeral Home in Forsyth. Burial was at St. Mary's Cemetery in Annapolis, MD, on Wednesday, September 20.