John Edmund Fitzmaurice

John Edmund Fitzmaurice (January 8, 1839 – June 18, 1920) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Erie in Pennsylvania (1899–1920).

Biography

Early life John Fitzmaurice was born on January 8, 1839, in Newtown-Sandes, County Kerry in Ireland. He began studying law at age fifteen. In 1858, he immigrated to the United States, where he began his studies for the priesthood at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Fitzmaurice was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop James Wood on December 21, 1862, and then served as a curate at St. John's and St. Paul's Parishes in Philadelphia. The Sisters of St. Joseph added an annex to St. Vincent's Hospital in Erie and in 1901 a nursing school.

Toward the end of his life, Fitzmaurice went blind; John Fitzmaurice died June 18, 1920, at age 81 in Erie, Pennsylvania.