Carolyn J. Fitzgerald

Carolyn Harriette Johnson Fitzgerald, 99, died of natural causes on December 21, 2024, at Catered Living in Ocean Pines, Maryland.
Carolyn was born in 1925 in East Aurora, NY to Lucia Rosina White and Carl Einar Johnson. She attended public schools there and graduated from East Aurora High School. She had three sisters: Ann Kinsey, Astrid Robillard, and Lucia Griffith, all of whom predeceased her.
In 1946 she graduated from The University of Wisconsin at Madison with a degree in Physical Education. That year she married Edwin Roger Fitzgerald, a UW student whom she met while serving at the University Union. According to her often-told story, Eddie persistently called her over to his table to refill his water glass. They were married for 66 years before his death in 2012. They lived in Madison WI and Lemont, PA before moving to Riderwood MD in 1961.
Carolyn taught Physical Education before her first child was born. She was a member of the League of Women Voters for over 50 years. She sang in the Towson University Choral Society for many years. She volunteered in the cafeteria when her children attended Ruxton Elementary. When her four younger children attended Hereford High School, she joined the Sports Boosters Club and sold home baked goods, snacks, and drinks at home games and cross-country meets to benefit the athletic programs. For years she drove throughout northern Baltimore County delivering Meals on Wheels. She also volunteered with Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Carolyn was predeceased by her husband, Edwin, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, and one son, William Fitzgerald. Seven children survive her: Lucia Fitzgerald of Accident, MD; Meg Fitzgerald Ahrendt (Ted) of Parkton, MD; Alice Chomeau of Golden, CO; Roger Fitzgerald (Sharon) of Berlin, MD; Doug Fitzgerald of Fish Creek, WI; Tim Fitzgerald (Christa) of Manitowish Waters, WI; and Jane Griffith (John) of Houghton, MI. She is also survived by eleven grandchildren, twelve great grandchildren, five great-great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
One of Carolyn's greatest joys was playing tennis. She played in several recreation leagues until she was in her eighties and played at Greenspring Racquet Club in Lutherville until she was ninety-one. She enjoyed swimming and hiking every summer on Chambers Island WI, where she and Edwin built a summer cottage. In 1972 the family moved to a 120-acre farm in Parkton. Carolyn designed the farmhouse and Edwin, and his four sons built it. Carolyn planted raspberries, blueberries, and a large vegetable garden. She grew Christmas trees and enlisted her children and grandchildren to help serve cookies, hot cider, and cocoa to customers who came to cut their own trees and socialize by a cozy fire.
Carolyn was passionate about the environment. She had solar panels installed on her farm when she was over ninety. She dried her clothes outside or by the furnace and refused to own a dryer. She heated her farmhouse with a wood burning furnace and, to her children's dismay, insisted that loading the firewood gave her much- needed exercise. At fifty she started running three miles a day. In later years she took long walks around the farm with her dogs and insisted that all visitors hop out of their cars to walk with her!
Contributions in memory of Carolyn may be sent to Penn Mar Human Services, 310 Old Freeland Rd., Freeland, MD 21053 or to Door County Land Trust, P.O. Box 65, Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235.
The family will hold a memorial service in Fish Creek, WI in the summer of 2025.