Matthew "Matty" Fitzgerald

Guilderland - Matthew “Matty” W. Fitzgerald III passed away at home on November 5, 2019 after a battle with cancer, he was 83. Matthew (Matty) was born March 9, 1936 to Eileen and Matthew Fitzgerald Jr. in Albany. Matty loved being a volunteer fireman and was a member of the South Schenectady Firehouse for more than 45 years. He made many lifelong friends there. He never missed a fire and in his later years served as fire police right up until his death. His everyday attire always consisted of a South Schenectady shirt or jacket. Nothing could keep him away from that firehouse. He worked for the Department of Taxation and Finance as a Computer Programmer until his retirement in 1996. Most of his retirement was spent driving back and forth to the firehouse. Papa loved his grandchildren and told them how he “captured Hitler single handedly” , “was a lollipop kid in the original Wizard of Oz”, and “saved the Easter Bunny from a raging fire”. This led them to go to school and tell all their friends. That did not end well. Matty excelled at many things and would tell us this regularly. He knew the best way to get everywhere, if you were sick he knew why, he would lean out the “Weather Window” and give you the forecast because “those weathermen never know anything”, if you had a question he had the answer even if you were asking a question in another room to another person. He loved to throw old bread out the second story window for “his friends of the forest” only to get mad at the dog for running outside and eating all the bread. One of his favorite pastimes was driving to the grocery store and pushing a cart through while “sampling” the produce before he left. Everyone knew that his world revolved around his dog Ralphie, who got fresh roast beef everyday before the rest of us got a “Hello, how are you?” He leaves behind his beloved dog Ralphie, and the rest of us, his wife of 52 years, Caroline, five daughters, Michelle Ganance (Vince), Tracy Rist (Eric), Chrissy Nash (Shawn), Katie Fitzgerald, Megan Fitzgerald, three grandchildren, Maggie Ganance, Vinnie Ganance and Trinity Rist and his sister, Sister Laureen Fitzgerald RSM. He was predeceased by his granddaughter Madison Fitzgerald and his beloved dog Michael. Calling hours will be held Thursday, November 7th (today), from 4-7 pm at DeMarco-Stone Funeral Home 5216 Western Turnpike (just west of Carmen Rd.), Guilderland. Funeral services will begin 10:30 am Friday at the funeral home. Burial will follow at St. Agnes Cemetery, Menands.