Cora Mae Fitzgerald

Cora Mae Fitzgerald

PORTSMOUTH - Cora Mae Fitzgerald, 87, of the 3600 block of Cedar Lane, died Dec. 19, 2005, in her residence. A native of Portsmouth, she was the daughter of the late Charles R. Fitzgerald and Ebbie E. Lawrence Fitzgerald.

She retired as a teacher for the Portsmouth Public School System. She was also a member of Jolliff United Methodist Church, Portsmouth Retired Teachers Association, DKG Sorority and a volunteer at Maryview Hospital.

A funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday in Sturtevant Funeral Home, Portsmouth Blvd. Chapel, by her friend, Ervin R. Johnson and the Rev. Waverly Smith. Burial will be in Olive Branch Cemetery. Friends will gather at the funeral home Wednesday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Memorial donations may be made to Jolliff United Methodist Church or EDMARC Hospice for Children.

Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk, VA) - December 20, 2005

Cora Mae Fitzgerald was born in Portsmouth, Virginia to Charles Raymond and Ebbie Lawrence Fitzgerald a few days before the end of the first World War. She grew up in the Newtown area of Portsmouth in a house on Fourth Street, two houses from the intersection of Lincoln and Fourth.

The Fitzgerald’s were a family of four. Cora Mae’s beloved brother William, buried next to her in Olive Branch Cemetery, Portsmouth, Virginia, was killed in action in Europe in January 1945 only 100 days before the end of World War II. Her dad, a Navy Yard machinist died in 1966 and her mother seven years later. She never married and has no surviving family. She graduated from Madison College, now James Madison University, completed graduate courses, and received a Masters Degree from University of Virginia.

Her family can be found in the 1920 census living with her maternal grandparents, William H. and Cora L. Lawrence.

They can again be found living with her maternal grandparents in the 1930 census. This census indicates that her father was born in Maryland and her paternal grandparents were born in Pennsylvania. .

Cora Mae Fitzgerald graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1935. She taught at Cradock High School in Portsmouth from 1947 through 1969. Cora Mae remained very close to many of her previous students