Print Issue: October 17, 2002

Sister Fitzgerald, GNSH, Former Christ The King Teacher, Dies

YARDLEY, Pa. - Sister Marie Christine Fitzgerald, GNSH, a teacher at Christ the King School and Christ the King High School, Atlanta, in the 1930s and '40s, died Oct. 7. She was 86.

Sister Fitzgerald taught third and fourth grade at Christ the King School from 1937-40 and then taught English, Latin and Spanish at Christ the King High School from 1940-46.

After leaving Atlanta, she spent 30 years teaching at D'Youville College in Buffalo, N.Y., first as a professor of French and Spanish, then as chairman of the department of foreign languages. For 10 years she was dean of arts and sciences and in 1964 she was appointed vice-president of academic affairs. Sister Fitzgerald held a master's degree in English and two doctoral degrees in languages.

At the age of 65, she joined the Peace Corps and worked in the Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), West Africa, and then spent three years with the Agency to Facilitate the Growth of Rural Organizations in Richfield, Minn. In 1989, she retired to the motherhouse of the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart in Yardley, Pa., but volunteered for several years in pastoral care at St. Mary's Hospital in Langhorne, Pa. She died at St. Joseph's Manor, Meadowbrook, in the 68th year of her Religious life.

Among her awards were the Brotherhood Award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews in Buffalo, the Good Neighbor Award of Buffalo and the Most Outstanding Peace Corps Volunteer in Upper Volta (Burkina Faso), West Africa.

As Sister Fitzgerald had donated her body to science, a memorial Mass was celebrated Oct. 10 at the motherhouse. Memorial contributions may be sent to the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart, 1750 Quarry Road, Yardley, Pa 19067-3998.