By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

WESTWOOD - Joan Catherine Fitzpatrick was a homegrown, west-side Catholic girl. She attended St. Lawrence grade school before graduating from Seton High School, both in Price Hill.

At 19, she entered the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati and attended the College of Mount St. Joseph in Delhi Township, where she received a bachelor's degree in education.

"She was a simple Price Hill kid with a generous heart," said her friend Sister Nancy Hoffman.

Sister Joan taught in Michigan, Lima and Xenia before coming back to the West Side to end her teaching career at Resurrection, St. William and St. Lawrence, all Price Hill grade schools.

Sister Joan, 72, died at her home here on May 13.

She was "happiest giving service to others," said Sister of Charity Loretta Saupe. "She was very straightforward and a person of very strong convictions. She had a strong sense of right and wrong. She also had a true appreciation of her vocation."

Born in Cincinnati in 1932, Sister Joan spent 28 years teaching at the elementary and junior high levels.

In 1980, she went to work in the billing department at Good Samaritan Hospital. Then, in 1993, she became a volunteer driver, transporting her fellow Sisters of Charity who lived in the Motherhouse or in Mother Margaret Hall nursing home to appointments.

"She was a prayerful woman who lived her life with integrity," Sister Nancy said.

Survivors include a niece, a nephew and a cousin. Services have been held. Memorials: Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Retirement Fund, 5900 Delhi Pike, Mount St. Joseph, OH 45051.