JOHN ALOYSIUS FITZMAURICE Jr.

1926 - 2014

FitzMaurice, John Aloysius Jr. 87, died March 8, 2014, of natural causes. A long-time resident of Arlington, Massachusetts, Mr. FitzMaurice was a pioneering optical character recognition physicist who served on the Town Capital Budget Committee and volunteered at the Old Schwamb Mill. Born in Chicago on August 26, 1926, Mr. FitzMaurice attended Morton High School in Cicero, IL where he was active on the school's wrestling team. He was a Wounded Veteran of World War II who enlisted in the Marines upon leaving high school. He served in the Pacific Theater, was in the intelligence section, and a company scout in the battles of Guam, Guadalcanal, and Okinawa. Mr. FitzMaurice graduated from the Illinois Institute of Technology with a BSc in Physics in 1951. After further specials studies in physics, in 1954 he joined Baird Atomic, a scientific Instrument company in Cambridge, MA where he worked for 30 years as physicist, Corporate Development Analyst, Director of Communications, General Manager, and Vice President of Corporate Development. In computer optical character recognition, he developed the first reader (the FitzMaurice Reader) a pre-cursor to today's scanner, specialized in finger-print recognition technology, and represented the United States in the International Bureau of Standards and Measures. Mr. FitzMaurice is pre-deceased by his spouse, Patricia Cunningham, his parents Laura Curran and John Aloysius Fitzmaurice; and by four of his siblings: Loretta Hlavin (Kenneth); Dolores Laurie (John); Father Terence Fitzmaurice O.S.B.; Emmett Fitzmaurice (Mary Therese). He is survived by his siblings Veronica Fitzmaurice Watts (Walter); Dr. Francis Fitzmaurice (Lavern); Loyola Fitzmaurice (Patricia); and his children Brehon Mason Herlihy (Ting); Christiana Cunningham-Adams; Robert Patten Herlihy; Elizabeth Fitzmaurice Elliott (Danny); and Eric Fitzmaurice. A funeral will be held at St. Agnes Church, 51, Medford St., Arlington, MA on Friday, March 14 at 10:00 am. Visitation at the Keefe Funeral Home, 5 Chestnut St., Arlington, MA from 8:30 to 9:30 Friday, March 14. Burial will be at Mount Pleasant Cemetery following the funeral. In lieu of flowers please make a donation in his name to the Schwamb Mill Preservation Trust.