Chris Fitzgerald remembered as huge Drake fan who loved to laugh
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Chris Fitzgerald was a devoted Temple police officer who took his job to heart, speakers said in words of remembrance prior to his funeral Mass Friday.
The words of remembrance before the funeral Mass for fallen Temple University police revealed more about Fitzgerald as a person. He had a lighter side too – a huge Drake fan who loved to tell jokes and messed with his patrol partner by blasting the same Doja Cat song often.
"My last conversation with him was on his birthday," brother Joel Fitzgerald said. "The first thing he wanted to talk to me about – wasn't even his birthday – he wanted to talk to me about the new Drake album. He loved Drake. He loved Drake a lot."
And when he was patrolling with a partner on the west side of campus, Fitzgerald, who also went by "Fitz," loved to blast Doja Cat's "Need to Know" whenever it came on the radio.
"Fitz would turn the song all the way up to the point where the speakers sounded like they were going to be blown out," said Jennifer Griffin, vice president of public safety at Temple University. "Mind you this is the Temple University Police Department wagon that these two were rolling in. The officer said Fitz would sing Doja Cat at the top of his lungs. Then look at him afterward and say, 'Jeff, whaddya think about Doja Cat?'"
Pastor Juan Marrero, Fitzgerald's uncle, spoke about his nephew's participation with multiple running groups including Black Men Run Philadelphia.
This week, CBS News Philadelphia's Aziza Shuler spoke with members of the running club who said Fitzgerald was a community-focused man who ran to fight for an end to gun violence.
"He became one of the original 12 members of the Swagga House Run Club ... who would go hood to hood with the goal of ending gun violence in our great city," Marrero said.
"His time of running and jogging was a time of spiritual reflection, and seeking the face of his lord and savior Jesus Christ," Marrero added.
"He acknowledged that he needed strength to be a good husband, he needed strength to be a good father, he needed strength to be a productive member of his church and last but certainly not least he needed strength to be a law enforcement officer."
"A major thing I learned is a nice laugh will really get you through a lot," brother Joel Fitzgerald said. "That's what he did, every time I saw him. It would just be a joke, after a joke, a lot of repetition. That was really my favorite part."