Curtis Fitzgerald

1926 - 2016

Walter Curtis Fitzgerald, Jr.

September 26, 1926 - August 28, 2016

Raleigh

Raleigh native and lifelong resident, Walter Curtis Fitzgerald, Jr., died August 28, 2016. He was born September 26, 1926, to the late Walter Curtis Fitzgerald and Lillie Gresham Fitzgerald.

Curtis attended Raleigh public schools, graduating from Needham B. Broughton in 1944. He began his education at NC State College, served in the Army of the United States, and then continued his education at Wake Forest College, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, UCLA, and Vanderbilt University.

In 1956, after serving one year as a Visiting Instructor at Scarrett College in Nashville, Tennessee, he joined the faculty of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at North Carolina State University. He developed and taught a variety of courses; among his favorites were Existentialism, History of Western Religions, and Religion in American Life. He was called and served as Assistant Head of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies from 1974 to 1988 and as Assistant Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences from 1988 to 1992. He was valued and appreciated by both colleagues and students throughout his time at the university.

He was an active member of the American Academy of Religion, the North Carolina Teachers of Religion, and the National Institute on the Holocaust. In addition to serving on a number of college and university committees he represented NCSU at the National Consultative Conference on Religious Studies in State Universities. He also represented NCSU at conferences on the role of humanities courses and programs sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. For several years he was a participant in the Annual Scholars Conference on the German Church Struggle and the Holocaust in New York City.

He served as Secretary and as Chairman of the Faculty of the School of Liberal Arts and was Elective Representative to the Faculty Senate and to the University Faculty Assembly.

He participated in the Humanities Extension Program, conducting seminars in twenty-eight locations across the state. As Assistant Dean he represented the college by contacting and collaborating with law-enforcement agencies to establish and administer programs providing credit courses through University Extension. He worked closely with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol to establish the Administrator Officers Management Program which brings law enforcement officers to the campus each semester for credit courses. Upon his retirement, he was awarded an Honorary Membership in the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.

Curtis enjoyed golf and swimming, but he especially favored tennis. As an early member of the NCSU Faculty club, he played regularly at the courts for many years. After his retirement, he and his wife Carolyn enjoyed international travel. For the past 25 years, he relished spending time at annual beach vacations with his family at his side.

Curtis was warm, gentle, generous, patient, and wise. He was a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend.

Curtis is survived by his wife, Carolyn Billings; his son, Ted Fitzgerald and his wife Pat, and their son, William of Dunn; his daughter, Santi Matthews and her husband Matt, and their sons, Charlie and Sam, of Raleigh; and his son, Greg Norton and his wife Mary Poole, of Raleigh; his sister, Durema Fitzgerald Kohl of Wheaton Illinois, his brother Lamont Fitzgerald and his wife Lorna, of Lancaster Pennsylvania; and four nieces and one nephew.

A memorial service celebrating Curtis Fitzgerald's life will be held on Saturday, September 10, at 11:00 a.m. in the sanctuary at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh. The family will receive friends at a reception in Finlator Hall following the service. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Pullen Memorial Baptist Church.