Helen Jean FitzPatrick

Helen Jean FitzPatrick
Helen Jean (Masterton) FitzPatrick, lovingly known as Jean, passed away on January 9, 2025 at the age of 88. Jean was born on April 2, 1936 in Detroit, Michigan to David and Maude (Eaton) Masterton. She grew up in Birmingham, Michigan with her older sister, Phyllis, and her younger brother, David. She enjoyed her summers at the family cottage where she loved to swim and ride the wild ponies. She graduated from Birmingham High School and Eastern Michigan College. At EMC she met William FitzPatrick and they married in 1958 at Birmingham First United Methodist Church. They were married for 44 years until Bill's passing in 2002. Jean was fortunate to find love again late in life and married Tom Smith in 2014. They remained married until her passing.
Professionally, Jean made contributions in the fields of education and residential care. After moving to Milwaukee in 1959 Jean taught elementary school until she moved to Watertown, WI in 1972. In Watertown, Jean found work at Bethesda Lutheran Home, rising to the position of Director of Cottage Life for the facility. Later, Jean was promoted to the position of Group Home Administrator for three Bethesda owned group homes in Illinois. Jean and Bill moved to Sycamore, Illinois for her new position. Jean remained in that position until her retirement in 1993. One of Jean's proudest accomplishments was earning her Nursing Home Administrator's License.
Jean devoted her life to public service. As a youth and young woman Jean was active in the Order of the Eastern Star. She was a Den Mother for the Cub Scouts and a leader for the Girl Scouts. Jean and Bill were there for the beginning of the Enlisted Association of the Nation Guard of the United States (EANGUS). She was one of the founding members of the Women's Auxiliary of EANGUS. She served in many different capacities with EANGUS and the Women's Auxiliary of the Wisconsin Nation Guard Enlisted Association (WNGEA). Jean and Bill traveled the country to every EANGUS Convention. After retirement, Jean was active in the Sycamore United Methodist Church and served on the Board of Ministries.
Jean was preceded in death by her parents, her brother and sister, her first husband Bill and her daughter Karen. She is survived by her husband Tom Smith, her sons, Kevin (Joanne) of Minocqua, Wisconsin; Keith (Andree) of Peachtree Corners, Georgia; son-in-law Bert Huftalin of Malta, Illinois; 8 grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and numerous nephews and nieces.
A celebration of Jean's life will be held on Saturday, May 24, at 10 AM at the Sycamore United Methodist Church. A luncheon will follow. As per Jean's wishes, she will be interred, with her first husband Bill, on June 23, at the Memorial Garden of the First United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Michigan.
Memorials can be directed to Ablelight (formerly known as Bethesda Lutheran Communities).