Robert D. Fitzsimons |
By Phillip R Smith | |
March 2, 2010 | |
Robert D. Fitzsimons (1939-2010) Robert Daniel Fitzsimons, a USCF member from Columbia, South Carolina, died February 26, 2010. He was 70. He was born October 11, 1939 in Chicago, the son of the late William Fitzsimons and Virginia (Sullivan) Fitzsimons Polley. Mr. Fitzsimons was a U.S. Air Force veteran, having served at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina before he retired as a master sergeant. While at the base, he helped establish a day camp for special-needs children and assisted with the Special Olympics. He was a member of American Legion Post No. 6 and a 4th-degree knight in the Knights of Columbus. He volunteered at the Veterans Administration Medical Center. He enjoyed golf. As a chess player, he gained a national rating by playing in a couple of quads in 2007 at the Columbia Chess Club. He was the chess club advisor at St. Joseph Catholic School, where he was known to the students as "Mr. Fitz." He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Mary (Timmons) Fitzsimons; two daughters, Belinda Fitzsimons of Columbiia and Donna Fitzsimons of Mineral Bluffs, Georgia; a granddaughter, two grandsons, a great-granddaughter, a brother, and many nephews, nieces, grandnephews and grandnieces. A funeral Mass was held March 2 in St. Joseph Catholic Church. Entombment was in Greenlawn Mausoleum. Obituary submitted by George Mirijanian, Massachusetts Chess Association. Robert D. Fitzsimons - May you rest in peace. |