William Edward "Fitz"Fitzgerald

Fitz grew up in an Irish housing project in the Bronx. He spent his early years playing in the streets of New York City where he developed his love of adventure and curiosity, competitive nature and fighting spirit. He enjoyed the freedom and challenges the NYC streets provided him as a young boy and survived by his wits and physical prowess.

Fitz moved to Matawan, NJ in middle childhood. He graduated from St. Joseph Grade School (1960) and Matawan High School (1964). Fitz enlisted in the Navy during the Viet Nam War and was honorably discharged in 1968. He was a member of the Navy's boxing team while on active duty. 

In 1968, Fitz began his professional career at Goldman Sachs in the Corporate Reorganization Dept. While working at Goldman, Fitz earned his Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Pace University attending school at night. 

He moved to Chicago in 1975 for a position with the Options Clearing Corporation and managed operations for their Chicago, San Francisco and New York offices. While at OCC, Fitz and the Operations VP, developed the Exercise by Exception System, which is still used in options trading today. Fitz worked alongside many pioneers in the options trading markets in senior executive positions during the 1980's and 1990's. He was proud of helping to create the execution arm at First Options of Chicago, which grew to be the largest floor operation in the world. At O'Connor and Co., Fitz with others, innovated operations to be the first market maker firm to execute stock on handheld devices and facilitated the firm's transition to electronic trading. Fitz continued to work in execution, clearing and compliance for many equity trading firms in Chicago. At the time of his death, Fitz was working as Chief Compliance Officer at Hull Partners LLC.

Fitz's greatest joy in life was to be of service. He was a Board member of Hazelden Chicago, The Night Ministry, The Chicago Christian Industrial League and Kiwanis of Anna Maria Island, Florida. 

Fitz was fiercely proud of his Irish heritage and lived a life full of friends and laughter. He had many joys and tragedies in his life yet never lost his optimism and good nature. Although Fitz came from humble beginnings, he lived a life of gratitude for his good fortune, his 34 years as a Friend of Bill W. and the love he shared with his wife, Nancy.

Cremation rites have been accorded. 

There will be a Celebration of Life for Fitz on Friday, March 14, 2025 from 1-4pm at the Perico Island Clubhouse, Bradenton, FL. Please bring your best "Fitz" stories. 

To honor Fitz's memory, try to be the best person you can be, one day at a time.