John A. "Jack" Fitzgerald

John (Jack) Andrew Fitzgerald, 99, died of COVID December 28, 2024. He leaves behind a legacy as long as his colorful life.

Born in Menomonie, Michigan February 2, 1925, he grew up in Allouez, WI with his four siblings. Jack was impacted and participated in two of the most significant events of the 20th century: the Great Depression and World War II.

Jack, his siblings, and dear mother, endured economic, and emotional instability and hardship as a result of his father’s alcoholism. He chose to be a loving, generous, fully present father to his own children as a result.

To help his family during the Great Depression, he delivered Grit, known then as the “Great American Family Newspaper”, and both Milwaukee newspapers to earn extra cash.  In turn, Jack developed a lifelong love of reading the morning newspaper(s).

In middle school he loved the music of Glen Miller and hoped to play clarinet in the school band. Alas the only instrument available was a trumpet; his love for music and his trumpet playing would provide him a myriad of experiences and opportunities for the rest of his life.

A lifelong Packers fan, he rode his bike to City Stadium in Green Bay where he could get in free with a paying adult.  After December 7, 1941, he played his trumpet in the Green Bay Packers Lumberjack Band to fill in for the adult men who went off to war.  

As a 10th grader, Jack listened to FDR’s radio address regarding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, “a day that will live in infamy”. He eagerly signed up for service on his 18th birthday as opposed to waiting to graduate high school and being drafted.  He wanted to join the U.S. Navy, and play trumpet on a capital ship’s band, even though as a swimmer he could barely dogpaddle.

While he wanted to do his part to defeat Fascism, he faced two significant obstacles: he was colorblind ( in an era when ships used colored flags to communicate), and he was nearly blind as a result of whooping cough as a child. It took a buddy to help him pass the military induction colorblind tests, and a kind hearted medical officer who sensed his overt disappointment at being told he wouldn’t qualify and would have to join the U.S. Army.  Because of his performances in the GBP Lumberjack band, he had joined a musician’s union; that membership card proved to the Navy that he was indeed a “professional musician” and subsequently allowed him to try out for a ship’s band. His dream of serving on a capital ship was achieved when he was assigned to the U.S.S. Saratoga, an aircraft carrier that shared his birth year.

During the course of his service, he earned three battle stars for combat in the Marshall Islands, action with the British Royal Navy task force in Java and Sumatra, and the bloody battle for Iwo Jima in March 1945.  He volunteered to be a First Loader on a Quad 40 anti-aircraft gun much to the chagrin of his bandmates (who preferred easier battle stations duty inside the ship working at aid stations). When Japanese kamikaze planes attacked the Saratoga, he knew the planes were coming directly at his position because the gun didn’t need to move to follow it’s target. He stayed on the gun, loading 4 shell clips as fast as he could until a massive explosion sent water and plane parts showering his gun. A kamikaze plane had crashed amidships at the water line just ahead of his gun pocket, and punched a hole in the ship large enough to drive a semi. It killed everyone on the adjacent 5” gun. Although his hand was cut by shrapnel, when he saw the severity of the wounded men waiting for triage at the nearest aid station, he chose not to take up time from busy medics (and thus didn’t apply for a Purple Heart). The Saratoga limped back to Bremerton, WA for repairs and Jack was promoted to Gun Director Operator for his stellar service despite the catcalls from other sailors of being a “four-eyes”. He was the only enlisted sailor on the ship wearing glasses, as it was disqualifying in the Navy draft at that time.

After the war, he attended the University of Wisconsin thanks to the G.I. Bill.  He played in the Badger Marching Band and earned two degrees (B.A., M.A.) in Music Education.

Jack loved his time in San Diego, California during the war, so he and his wife Marge (nee Kramer), moved west to Mission Village to start their family. There he taught high school music and held down part time summer jobs selling insurance at Sears (even then, Southern California had a very high cost of living for a young public school teacher).

In 1963, he moved his growing family back to Wisconsin when he was hired as an Associate Professor at the newly opened University Wisconsin-Marathon County, with the expectation to build the music department and program from the ground up.  He served as department chair, created the UWMC Band, the Swing Choir, and taught Music Appreciation to hundreds of students needing elective credits who enjoyed his self-deprecating humor, easy smile, and his passion for classical music.

After divorcing his first wife, he married Marsha Krueger in 1973 and they were gracious hosts of friends and teammates of his kids; playing board games like Pictionary and Trivial Pursuit, and sledding down the backyard hill to the frozen creek.  He was notorious for attempting to gain an advantage by bringing extra cards or cutlery to a fast-paced game of “Spoons”.

Jack loved driving cross country, long before cruise control and intermittent wipers were standard. He could drive for hours without respite listening to youngest daughter Paula read Laura Ingalls Wilder books aloud.  During the summers, to earn extra money, he drove throughout northern Wisconsin to small towns. There, he would conduct daylong clinics at the local high schools for bands and choirs.

Summer family vacations meant extended three week road trips to the West Coast with stops at national parks from the Black Hills to the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde and Alcatraz as well as other historical markers. His love of San Diego and California made it a recurring destination for family trips. Tent camping at Rib Mountain, local county parks, and Wisconsin Dells were regular summer weekend outings with his four kids.  He enjoyed embarrassing his kids hiking the parks while wearing Bermuda shorts, black socks, and sandals with a red handkerchief covering his bald head (which was often similar to the attire he wore while spending many thousands of hours on a riding lawn tractor mowing the grass or hauling shovelfuls of sand out of the pond behind the house at Reed Road).

He was a “Superfan” for his kids' activities long before it became a thing.  As a Dad, he was supportive, generous, and at times over the top in the best possible way, like when he tried to bring a bass drum into a D.C. Everest GBB game at Marshfield to counter the noisemakers of the home fans. At Thanksgiving in 1977, he drove to Colorado Springs (in the days when air travel was very expensive) to spend a few days with his son, a Cadet at the United States Air Force Academy.

Christmas was his favorite season: amazing music to direct or perform, gifts to give and open, garish trees to decorate, and LOTS of delicious sweets like chocolate covered peanuts and peanut brittle. His kids cracked this code early on, spending hours dog-earring and marking up pages in the Sears Christmas catalog, hoping to score a new Erector Set or cardboard doll house castle, requiring hours of tedious assembly work the night before, most of which he enthusiastically relished.

In 1988, Jack married Debra Anklam and eventually moved to Lodi, WI.  They built the home of their dreams tucked into a wooded hill, and enjoyed feeding the birds, putting salt out for the deer, and hopping a ride on the Merrimac Ferry for a trip across Lake Wisconsin for an ice cream cone on the far side in Merrimac, near Devil’s Lake State Park. He took great pleasure in mowing the lawn to create criss-cross patterns like the Brewers outfield, and creating razor blade studded barriers to fend off relentlessly hungry squirrels and raccoons from the bird feeders. Deb and Jack enjoyed annual winter trips to Daytona, FL., his USS Saratoga reunions, and trips to the Black Hills (with a stop to replenish his stash of fireworks).

While in Lodi, he led the Soon-to-be-Famous town band as it performed in small town parades across south central Wisconsin. Deb was roped into playing bass drum when needed.  He joined the Blessed Brass in Madison, the Retro Swing Band, and the renowned Civil War 1st Brigade Band of Watertown, WI. Of all of the groups he made music with, the Civil War Band was his favorite because of the authentic instruments, uniforms, and musical arrangements.

Jack lived a life of service to his country, his family, and his students. He taught and directed music for a total of 44 years from John Edwards High School in Port Edwards, WI., to  Kearney H.S. in San Diego, CA., finishing at UW-Marathon County in Wausau, WI.. In his retirement, he joined VFW Post 2260 in Madison. Over the course of three decades with them, he played taps at over 3000 veterans funerals. He enjoyed receiving a free cup of hot chocolate from a coffee shop when he wore his VFW Rifle Squad uniform and while in uniform, he was able to use his quick wit, WW II vet plates, and down to earth charm to avoid speeding tickets from more than a few police officers. Once pulled over for speeding on the highway in his Prius, caught going 75 mph in a 55 mph, he told the deputy “are you sure? I don’t think this car can go that fast”… and received a warning, and a laugh, instead.

For 25 years, he drove from Lodi to Eden Prairie High School in suburban Minneapolis, to share his World War II experiences with daughter Sheila’s tenth grade U.S. History students.  They treated him like a rock star wanting his autograph and taking selfies with him, even sharing on class surveys that listening to his personal war stories & photo presentations were the highlight of their academic quarter. He was a lifelong learner and a voracious reader who always had books or magazines in his car-along with  candy bars stashed in the glove compartment (“blizzard food”) just in case he needed to wait for any length of time.

He began playing racquetball in 1969, at age 45, and played competitively, winning his age group at State level championships on several occasions.  Jack outlived his racquetball peers and played until his early 80s when he complained that his best YMCA competition was a pregnant Madison woman in her 30s who soon became too busy to play regularly. At age 90, Jack hired a trainer at the Madison YMCA to help him build his strength and improve his balance. His oft stated goal of hitting the century mark was 39 days away.

Jack contributed to every community he was a part of from helping gather signatures to save the Merrimac Ferry, to volunteering to direct the Monona United Methodist Church Bell choir where Deb was a member and participant ringing the beautiful bells. He enjoyed giving unique door prize gifts whether on a tour bus in Europe or at a team banquet. One of his personal mottos was if no one else would volunteer then he would. He also embodied the attitude of “walk like you know where you’re going and act like you belong”--which served him well on many occasions.

As a grandfather he thoroughly enjoyed cheering on his grands whether at the hockey rink (Derek and Claire), basketball court (Kathleen) or softball diamond (Claire). Joining John, Sean, and Ryan at the Oshkosh Experimental Aircraft Association fly-in was a summer highlight for many years. Mentioning an upcoming piano recital, forensics meet, or choir concert was a sure way to guarantee a short notice visit and dinner with grandpa at Culver’s.

Jack was very competitive and loved to “play” from Scrabble and Boggle, to backyard Badminton games, and touch football games during halftime of Packers games. When he and Deb finished the lower level of their home they purchased a gorgeous pool table, where he spent hours playing with anyone who would take him on. Grandson Derek remembers a visit as a teenager shooting pool for hours and hours finally going to bed at 3 a.m. Jack was determined to wring every minute from  every hour of every day. He epitomized “carpe diem”.

The COVID lockdown took so much from his busy life; this, coupled with an earlier Alzheimer's dementia diagnosis in 2019, meant his world grew smaller and more confusing.  Deb bravely and valiantly faced the challenges of allowing him to remain in their home for as long as it was safely possible until April 2024 when he moved to Dove Healthcare in Lodi.  He was well cared for by a team of unsung and under compensated professionals from CNA’s to nurses.

Jack was preceded in death by his parents John B. and Gladys (Gagnon), sisters Irene Olson, Mary Miller, and brother Rockne. He is survived by his wife of 36 years Debra Anklam, his brother Franklin,  children John (Kim), Maureen, Sheila (Sandra Schmidt), Paula (Dave), grandchildren Sean (Karen), Ryan (Hannah), Kellyanne (Mark Powers), Kristy (Ben), Kathleen, Caitlin (fiancé Jeremy), Maddy (Chandler), Derek (Jorie), and Claire, great-grandchildren Caleb, Reeve, Henry, Maisie, Zoe, and Kora Rae.

Donations are suggested to UW Wausau Campus Foundation’s John Runkel Foundation, the Alzheimer’s Association, or the organization of your choosing.

A visitation will take place at GUNDERSON EAST FUNERAL AND CREMATION CARE, 5203 Monona Drive, Madison, from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, with a military service beginning at 4 p.m. Interment at Restlawn Memorial Park, Wausau, will take place at 1 p.m. on Thursday, January 9, 2025. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.

Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.

Gunderson East

Funeral & Cremation Care

5203 Monona Drive

(608) 221-5420