Fighter. Investor. Humanitarian.
Jim Fitzpatrick was a country boy who lived his life in the presence of his God.
The son of a Presbyterian minister and a public school teacher, his childhood days in southern Virginia were spent hunting the woods surrounding the manse in solitude, enjoying the arts in the evenings with his mother, and hopping in the back of the car to join his three brothers, sister, mother and father on their weekly journey to several country churches throughout Dinwiddie County to hear their father lead Sunday services throughout the day.
At the age of 18, Jim left The College of William & Mary and enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps to help his country defeat Nazi Germany. As a First Lieutenant and after piloting his B-17 Flying Fortress on 18 successful missions, he was shot down over Brunswick, Germany on May 8, 1944. Captured the following day, he became a prisoner of war until he was liberated two weeks before VE day.
During his time in prison camp, he received two blessings he would carry with him for the rest of his life. His interest in economics and investing was sparked, thanks to the many YMCA care packages and books he eagerly received and consumed while in camp. And a young woman from one of his father’s congregations began writing him letters as a prisoner of war — a woman who would soon become Nancye Fitzpatrick, his beloved wife for 66 years and the mother of his four children.
After the war, the GI bill enabled Jim to return and graduate from William & Mary and go on to study his new intellectual passion at Columbia Business School in New York.
Jim’s unique understanding of the human spirit and global economics guided his successful career as an asset manager for the next 60 years. He worked as an analyst and portfolio manager,managing assets for both institutional and private clients at Moody’s Investor Service, Lionel D. Edie, Smith Barney, and Citibank.
In 1972, the YMCA Retirement Fund was struggling to meet its pension obligations. With the history of his prison camp experience and his father serving as a chaplain of the YMCA Armed Services in France during WWI, Jim chose to once again commit his life to the betterment of others and joined the YMCA Retirement Fund, where he took on the responsibility, as Chief Investment Officer, for managing the pension assets of YMCA employees across the country.
Jim commuted to New York from his home in Princeton, New Jersey for 33 years. He was an active Sunday school teacher, Deacon, and Elder of the Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton throughout his adult life. Some evenings on his way home, he would get off the train in New Brunswick, where he taught Economics to students at Rutgers University.
In 1988, having retired from the YMCA after 15 years of service, Jim founded and led Princeton Capital Management to continue to serve the private clients whose money he had managed for decades. Jim was actively engaged with the firm, serving clients’ interests until early this year. The partners of the firm will miss his insight and presence.
Jim served as a trustee of the National Presbyterian Foundation, a trustee and trustee emeritus of the Center of Theological Inquiry, on the board of the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State University and on the advisory board of ABS Ventures. He advised and supported organizations dedicated to the development of future generations, including the Newgrange School, the Trenton Children’s Chorus, Trinity Counseling Services, the American Boychoir School, the Princeton Family YMCA and the Jerusalem YMCA.
At the age of 92, Jim died in his home of natural causes on April 29, 2016. He will be dearly missed by his wife Nancye, his four children Karen, Hugh, Allen and Dudley, his 12 grandchildren, and his 9 great-grandchildren, all of whom have benefitted from his love.
A service of remembrance and celebration will be held Sunday, May 8 at 2 pm at the Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton, New Jersey.
Memorial gifts may be made to the Princeton Family YMCA, 59 Paul Robeson Place, Princeton, NJ, 08540.
Arrangements are under the direction of The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton.