Richard Leigh Fitzgerald

Husband of Betsy Prettyman FitzGerald, son and youngest child of Richard Y. FitzGerald and former Massachusetts State Congresswoman, Susan Grimes Walker FitzGerald, and a long time resident of Cambridge, MA passed away on September 20, 2007 at Brookhaven in Lexington after a series of illnesses. Born May 11, 1914 in Jamaica Plain, MA Leigh was a graduate of The Roxbury Latin School and Princeton University (1935), where he majored in History. After College, Leigh went to work for the Narragansett Electric Company, and shortly thereafter, for its parent company, the New England Electric System (NEES). Over a career that included service on the Board of NEES and culminated in Vice Chairmanship, Leigh built a legacy from a profound appreciation for the opinions of others. During his career, he was a NEES witness on rates, finances, corporate affiliations and operations variously before the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities and the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission. He was also active in exploring the development of nuclear power operations in New England. For many years, Leigh served as a member of various financial and executive associations and Boards including twenty-three years as a Member and Trustee of the former West Newton Savings Bank, nine years as a Member of the Investment Committee and Director of Massachusetts Blue Cross and five years as a Trustee of The Roxbury Latin School. On retirement from NEES, Leigh became an Adjunct Associate Professor at Boston University School of Management for two years. He was married to the late Frances Abbott Phillips (deceased) of Providence, R.I., with whom he had four children, David, Hope Taylor, Nancy Henry (deceased) and Gordon. He subsequently married Betsy Prettyman Norton of Medford, MA, with whom he had one son, Ross. Many friends, his remaining children, his grandchildren, Morgan Taylor, William Henry, Kenneth Henry, Aidan FitzGerald and Rebecca FitzGerald, and his great grandchildren, Wyeth Taylor and Thatcher Taylor survive Leigh. Services were private. Memorial donations may be made to The Roxbury Latin School, in West Roxbury, Shady Hill School in Cambridge, or an educational institution of choice. Douglass Funeral Home (781) 862-1800