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School attorney fights cancer

Richard "Spike" Fitzpatrick, 57, is in intensive care at Citrus Memorial Hospital.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT and EDDY RAMIREZ
Published March 21, 2006

	Update: School attorney dies of cancer

INVERNESS - David Langer remembered the advice that he and his fellow School Board members gave to Richard "Spike" Fitzpatrick 28 years ago when they first hired him to be the board's attorney.

They told him that when they needed his counsel they would ask for it.

Over the years, Fitzpatrick grew more comfortable injecting his thoughts and historical perspective into School Board discussions, earning him the nickname of the "sixth board member."

Langer, who left the board years ago, said Monday, "Spike has been a great asset to the school system. ... And I think Spike has also been a good School Board member."

Such accolades for Fitzpatrick's hard work for the school district, the Sheriff's Office and his many private clients were flowing Monday as community members learned the lawyer was in intensive care at Citrus Memorial Hospital.

Fitzpatrick, 57, has been battling cancer for the past several years. Prayers were offered during a recent School Board meeting as his condition deteriorated.

"It's been heartbreaking for me to watch this whole thing," said state Rep. Charles Dean, who used words such as integrity and professionalism to describe Fitzpatrick's work.

Dean, who had worked for the school district for years and was then elected sheriff, hired Fitzpatrick to represent his office. But the relationship was more than just professional. His family was close to Fitzpatrick's.

"We've just been family close," he said. "It's been a better than tight friendship all of my life."

Dean said he has been praying for a medical miracle for his old friend.

"We've had a lot of fun in our lives together," he said, "I just hurt so deeply for him, for Nancy and for his kids."

School Board members also took time Monday to reflect on Fitzpatrick's contributions.

They spoke of his unwavering commitment to the school system, even in recent months when he was still presiding over expulsion hearings despite at times having trouble breathing.

"He has never wavered from his responsibilities, even on his worse days," said School Board member Pat Deutschman, who last visited him at his law office two weeks ago.

Deutschman, whose two sons were on the youth league team that Fitzpatrick coached years ago, remembers how children flocked to the field behind his law office for baseball practice. She said he was out of the office and on the field by 4 p.m., still wearing a white collar shirt and tie.

"To a lot of people he's always been scary," Deutschman said. "Those of us who had kids on his Little League team knew the real Spike, and the real Spike is a hugely compassionate man with an undying love for children and a tenderness and kindness that you don't normally see."

Board Chairman Lou Miele said Fitzpatrick's influence on the board has been invaluable. "He has a vast knowledge of our school system and not only that, but of our community," he said. "He is someone whose opinion I've always wanted to hear, whether it's his legal or his personal opinion, because he is so in tune to our needs and our community."

Board member Ginger Bryant said she wondered how the school system would ever get by without Fitzpatrick.

"He can see around corners and has spared us all kinds of grief if we chose to listen to him," Bryant said. "He's a big part of why we've historically been a good board."

Former School Board member Patience Nave said she had sent Fitzpatrick a note a couple of weeks ago when she learned his illness had worsened. She wrote about how much she appreciated what he has done and that she remembered how highly he was regarded at the state level as a School Board attorney.

Still, there were those in the community who called for his ouster, Nave recalled.

"Some people said he was arrogant. But you know, if you are really good, then maybe you have something to be arrogant about," Nave said. "He's really good at what he does, and he's served Citrus County and Citrus County's children well."

Nave didn't see the arrogance. She said she saw how much he cared about what he was doing. "He is a very precious person. He's a big teddy bear," she said.

Before she was a judge, Patricia Thomas served on the School Board. She remembers that she once felt a feeling of impending doom. Then Fitzpatrick told her that he was thinking about stepping down from representing the school district. "I told him that would constitute impending doom," Thomas said.

"There is no telling how much money he has saved the school district over the years," Thomas said. "He's a brilliant man."

Fitzpatrick finished first in his law school class at the University of Florida, then came back to Inverness to practice with his father, Charles. "There is more than one attorney, more than one person in this town that Spike has pulled out of the fire," she said.

He has also always celebrated his beloved Florida Gators and his heritage. Thomas said she has pictures somewhere of Fitzpatrick in full green Irish regalia right down to the green shoes.

Throughout his illness, she said, he has "put an optimistic face on it."

"It's hard to talk about because I've been in denial for a long time," Thomas said. "He has truly been fighting the good fight."

[Last modified March 21, 2006, 02:30:40]