From the Gazette

...Fitzgerald was remembered Thursday as kindhearted and generous, with a dry sense of a humor, ebullient smile and a passion for caring for his patients. He left a legacy of volunteerism, friends and colleagues said, sometimes offering his services free at an outreach clinic in La Junta and washing dishes at soup kitchens. In his free time, he enjoyed traveling, reading and spending time with his grandchildren.

"He was a great guy - very warm, very generous," said Bryan Rommel-Ruiz, a neighbor in Casa Verde Commons, a co-housing community in which residents share management duties such as landscaping and upkeep.

Fitzgerald and his wife, Kim, lived in a large, cream-colored duplex next door to a common building where residents share dinner twice a week. He could often be seen playing baseball with his grandson in the complex and liked to include other young children from the community, neighbors said.

Funeral services will be at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, November 26, 2008 at First United Methodist Church, 420 N Nevada Ave. Memorial contributions may be made to Community Health Center or ESM First Fund, a charitable fund for prescription medication, in memory of Dr. Edward Fitzgerald.