Fireman’s parade in Chambersburg
I enjoyed serving on the parade committee with Fitz
Team Photo
an old program, Billy’s 10th grade season, brother Joe was a senior.
Fitz Holiday Text
I woke up this morning hoping for that holiday text from Fitz. Knowing him, I’m sure he’ll send us signs in other ways. Anyway, I wanted to share this for anyone else looking for that holiday text today. The quote is absolutely something he would say!
Credit to the artist: Paul Combs
Uncle Billy
I will always remember Uncle Billy gave the best hugs and had the most boisterous laugh. ❤️
Marriott Fire Protection
Some of the many DCFD retired members who have served with Marriott Fire Protection. Billy, one of the best!
One of a Kind
I met Mr. Fitz when I was about 7-8 years old. I can’t put into words how much the Fitz’s mean to me. I call them my ‘bonus parents’ because of how much time we spent growing up at their house.
I remember one year raking leaves at the house in Great Falls and Mr. Fitz made a huge pile of leaves for all of us to jump into after we finished.
He was the first to take pictures of anything we did, the first to text us happy [insert holiday here], and gave the best hugs. Just one of a kind.
Billy Fitzgerald a great Family Man
Over many years of time Billy made very long trips to support family that was not directly his own. This is something to be very much respected and appreciated. He always treated everyone with care, those who were way below his level of accomplishment. What a wonderful example to all of us. He reached out to keep family informed and made to feel a part of his life and his immediate family’s life. He was a man of exemplary values, who lived those values. He will be greatly missed.
Pap and Yaya
Pap and yaya were the first ones there at the hospital when the twins were born. I heard Jimmie talking to Billy on the phone while they wheeled the twins and I up to our postpartum room, minutes later Billy and Lila were there with us. Family was always most important for Billy, he had the newspaper for that day in hand. He came back again the next day to visit the twins.
Fishing & Fire trucks
Although we only knew for a few years, it definitely felt like he was always family. I loved his stories and his perspective of how schools “use to be”. He always treated our son if he was his own, whether allowing him to fish at the pond, cheering him on during wrestling matches or riding in his fire trucks at the parades.
We are blessed to know him and thankful for all the conversations and laughs over the years. We love you and will miss you Billy!
Rain On Our Parade
The Apple Blossom parade is my favorite parade of the year. It has the best weather, you have plenty of time to explore downtown Winchester before the parade starts, and it’s the longest and most crowded one so you have so many people to look at and thank for being there. In 2019 that parade did not fit all of the normal criteria. We spent most of the time before the parade started huddled under the drive thru teller trying to not get soaked by the storm. Eventually the rain seemed to let up and the parade was back on! As we begin to drive the route we quickly realized that this parade was in-fact not going to be a dry one. The storm clouds rolled back in and it poured on all of us in that open cab firetruck on the streets of downtown Winchester. As we made our way through the long parade we were halted a dead stop for what felt like 20 minutes, sitting just getting rained on by every angle. They had stopped the entire parade to prepare the cameras to televise the parade that year. All we could do was laugh and we bring up that 2019 parade every year when we pass the spot we were stuck getting soaked by that storm.
Last Tag Pap
Every time Pap said good bye after a visit there was always a last tag of the tip of the kids noses. They could never quite get the last tag in on him. Well today Logan, Luke, and Eliza all managed to get the last tag in. Enjoy your time with Shelby Pap until we meet again we know you’ll watch over us. We’ll take care of YaYa. Love you!
PERSPECTIVE
Funny…reading through the most glowing and heartfelt tributes to Billy, something occurred to me. We have all been beneficiaries of his energy and zest for every aspect of life. He does “LIVING” like no one that I have ever known.
As much as he has accomplishes in everything, and as many people as he touches and influences along the way, it all boils down to one simple fact: Billy genuinely cares. He cares FOR us and he cares ABOUT us. ALL of us! In every way. In everything he does. Always.
There’s an old saying: “If you expect nothing, that is just what you will get.” He expects more of himself and expects more of us too.
From a hug, or a kiss on the cheek or a handshake when he meets us. To a phone call or a card or a visit to keep in touch. He is an example to follow. Billys’ life really is as good as it gets. He is all in.
So thank you Billy. Thank you for being so much more than we ever expected.
Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival Firefighters Parade
Whenever I went to the Apple Blossom Festival Firefighters parade you could always count on seeing Billy participating in the parade with his own personal fire apparatus.
Brothers and Best Friends
Billy has a way of making you feel like you’re important and what you do means everything (when in fact, that’s basically what makes him so uniquely special – HE is important and what HE does means everything). Which just makes us all want to try harder to be better at whatever it is that we do. And trust this: if you don’t measure up, he’ll make sure you know that too. People who inspire us are like that!
Having shared our childhood, wrestling, the rescue squad, owning fire trucks, and most everything else in our lives, I can truly say, with heart felt LOVE that in every way Billy is my brother, my friend, my confidant, my hero. He is my children’s beloved Uncle Billy. He’s a devoted husband, an awesome Dad, and a fantastic Pap & Pop. There is honestly nothing that Billy FitzGerald can’t do better than most of us…except electrical work. And if there were more time, he would probably master that too. He is our Rock Star.
Bigger Than Life
When I met Billy FitzGerald I was 17 and so was he. He is part of the most amazing family I have ever known. Over more than 50 years since we met, I have heard a few stories!
One thing for sure, Billy stays busy. Always has. I swear he has to have more than 24 hours in his days!! But even with all of the things he has going on, he manages to stay close and available for his family and his friends. He often calls to share something he heard, ask questions about what his next project is or to see how your last project turned out, critique a fire call, or just to have a laugh about how crazy this world is. Listening to Joe & Billy talk is better than watching the news! Believe me, those conversations will tell you the REAL news!
Every holiday, or notable day, at promptly 6:00 am, our cell phones all sound off with a GIF from Billy. (Happy Groundhog Day, Happy Veterans Day, Happy Election Day…) Billy has his finger on the pulse of the extraordinary as well as the everyday. He never misses a beat!
Earliest Memory
My earliest memory of anything in the world was when I was two years old; Dad told me that we were going to the hospital to get Mom and a brand new baby brother. Mom had been gone for a couple of days. I was extremely excited that all you had to do was go to a place called a hospital and buy a baby brother. From the moment that we picked Billy up and throughout our lives we remained especially close.
When Billy was two and I was four, we were very upset that we couldn’t go to school like Jim and Susan did. So Mom made us a picnic lunch and had me help Billy eat on the porch on Parrish Drive in Rockville all by ourselves sitting amongst the hydrangea bushes. I remember feeling so protective of Billy and so grown up at four years old.
This photo is from August 1966 on a sand dune in front of our ocean front cottage in Fenwick Island. Joe, Billy and Jim, we were the three Amigos’.
Former Fire Chief of Marion VFC
After the Staff was challenged by the winning Cadet team, Chief Fitz was asked if he wanted to run with us in a slightly modified Firefighter Challenge during our 2014 Franklin County Junior Fire Academy sponsored by the Franklin County Fire Chief’s Association in Chambersburg, Pa. This was the crew he ran it with. Chief Ralph Yeager, DC Ben Holmquist, Assistant Chief Mike Niswander and Sgt. Chris Bowman all from New Franklin Vol Fire Co, Pa. Former Fire Chief Jerry Houpt of Marion Vol Fire Co and Chief Fitzgerald from Chambersburg Fire Dept. If memory serves me correctly we beat the challengers!
Awaited FitzGerald Family Photo
Lila is my cousin, who came every year & spent summers in Maryland with us. I couldn’t wait for her to come, & mourned when she left. Naturally I loved the Christmas photo she sent every year with her Christmas letter. My mom (her Aunt Livy), would ask me, have you gotten Lila’s letter yet? No, not yet, but I know we will. Then it would come, & we’d compare it to last year, & see how much had changed. I put them into my photo album next to the previous year. However, I recently found out that ‘she’ doesn’t take these wonderful, creative photo’s, BILLY DOES! So, he is the ONE to whom I must direct my gratitude! Thank you Billy for each photo you coerced your family into doing, so we could all enjoy the result!
Love & Prayers,
Vicky
Brother in law
First time I met Billy, he greeted me with a kiss on the cheek. That startled me at first, but quickly learned that is who he is. His sense of humor is the highlight of every family gathering. Dinner with Billy, Lila and Jim at The Sunset restaurant, in Glen Burnie Maryland when they came to visit in 2019.
Brothers
Billy, Joe and Jim at the family Christmas celebration in 2022. This was the last time the brothers were together!
Brothers
Billy, Joe and Jim at the family Christmas celebration in 2022. This was the last time the brothers were together!
Adult Halloween Parties
Who says, adults cannot dress up for Halloween ?
Always fun !
Fitz with his McCaa Mask one year, and as “The Sheriff,” another year. Fitz, you obviously won the election for Sheriff ! Not a surprise !
Rick “The Hippy” Moore, to no one’s surprise, needs some “guidance” from you and your Deputy Dave Faust.
Mr.
Photo (taken by Big “E) I have in my basement, of
E-12, operating at 3rd & R Sts., NW.
I believe this fire took place in January of 1982, during the same snowstorm, that Air Florida Flight 90 went down in.
I learned early, if “Box Alarm Engines 12,…..” came over the Vocalarm, pull your boots up. 99% chance you were going to a fire. Especially, in the “Unit Blocks,” on each side of North Capitol Street.
E-12 was an awesome place to be appointed, too !!
Old Friends
Billy… How the Hell have We survived this long?
We have known each other for over 50 years. We both started at BCC Rescue, and I swear we in our own ways were always competing to see who ran the most calls and who was first in a burning building and who had the best rescue. We both made Lt. and for Christ’s sake we both married women who joined the squad. (Who knows why they stayed with us.)
After a while we all moved on. You went fire and joined with Chevy Chase and then DC Fire making a great name for yourself. I went medical and became a PA and back then the jobs were in other states, so we moved several times. But I did continue doing different types of 1st responder jobs as well to compete with you. LOL
We still kept in touch over the years and got together more these past few years. Like a soap opera we seemed to always be able to pick up where we left off.
The rode has been tough at times, but friends and family have always gotten us home Safe and Sound.
His Rookie
Pics are from when E10 was company of the year for DCFD he was the Captain of the company.
We talked about that time many times and he was always proud to be the boss.
Family has always been a
Family has always been a first priority for Billy and Lila. We love the extended family times we share. We couldn’t be happier having them in our lives.
Big Boots to Fill
John’s got some big boots to fill. With each promotion Billy has been the biggest role model and supporter of John’s career path. The picture is John’s promotion to Captain.
Holidays
Forced family fun…. Best memories are made trying to get 6 small children to all look at the camera and capture the annual Christmas photo. The title says 23 minutes. I think that’s the longest attention span we’ve been able to get the kids to cooperate. The photo is one of Billy’s biggest annual traditions and it’s always fun to pick the best card layout to go with the picture. Great tradition!