Ed Fitzgerald

Name: Ed Fitzgerald
Hometown: Somerville, Massachusetts, USA
Died: 2024-01-09 (Age:93)
Judge: Record
Referee: Record

Eddie Fitz grew up in Medford MA, served as an Altar boy, attended Saint Clements Catholic school, and joined the Navy at age 19. Deployed on the USS Salem, he coached boxers and established and edited the ship's newspaper. After his service he worked at Pinkerton Detective Agency and later as a tax examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Born busy, Ed lived his life as an athlete, coach, referee and champion of youth sports. He danced, boxed, played hockey, skied, rode horses and Harley's. A natural teacher, he coached little league, taught his own kids to ride, ski, hike, and camp. He led his young family and raucous cousins on late winter expeditions up the grueling trail to camp and ski the headwall of Mt Washington.

As an amateur boxer he was named Welterweight Champion with a record of 19-1. He beat Paul Pender twice (Pender went on to become the middleweight champion of the world), and "Stormin Norman" Hayes, a street-tough prizefighter from Roxbury.

An esteemed Referee for 50 years, Eddie was known for protecting his athletes: "you can't call a fight too early but you can call it too late". At the Golden Gloves in Lowell in 1988, an epic brawl broke out when he called the fight after numerous infractions on both sides; the final straw when Joey DeGrandis swore at him. Instantly the fight was called; John Scully won and all hell broke loose. Ed had to be escorted out for his safety.

Ed got a kick out of being cast as an extra in the movie The Departed, and as the announcer in The Fighter; look for him 10 minutes in.

As a teen after WW2, he gathered a group of friends at White Horse Beach in Plymouth, grabbed a nearby dingy and rowed out to the large rock jutting out of the ocean to paint the American Flag. The rock became known as Flag Rock.

Whenever local fallen heroes came across his radar, he used his sway to create honorary namings, scholarships or permanent memorials. He initiated fundraisers, and worked long days on poppy drives to raise money for veterans for many years. Throughout his life he quietly worked behind the scenes to help others, with a soft spot for the underdog. He was the recipient of many awards and an Icon of the sport of boxing.

"Eddie Fitz, you don't owe nuttin to nobody" - proclaimed by a prizefighter who ran into Eddie on the street one day in Boston

Member:

St Clement's Hockey Team

National Ski Patrol

Lexington VFW; past Commander

Ring 4, Veteran Boxers Association

Boxers Fund State of MA

Somerville Boxing Gym

US Military Vets MC Club, co-founder, past president

State Boxing Fund

USS Salem

Courtesy of Ed's daughter Lisa Robinson.