[br][br]Eugene Francis FITZPATRICK (age 78) of Spokane died peacefully on November 1, 2014 (All Saints Day) at Sacred Heart Providence Hospital. Gene was born in the Bronx area of New York City on August 13, 1936 the youngest son of Catherine Gallagher and Michael Fitzpatrick, Irish immigrants. He left the boundaries of the Big Apple for the first time at the age of 18 and was an active member of the College YCS (Young Christian Students). He attended City College of New York and Roosevelt University of Chicago. He was married to Madeline Horras in San Francisco before settling in Illinois. Gene demonstrated his passion for organizing as an AFL-CIO organizer throughout the Chicago area. When his children moved to Montana, Gene followed them in 1978 and settled in Great Falls until his children had moved on to college. He merged his love of the Catholic Church and organizing and became an evangelist for the church in Wibaux, MT, where he fell in love with the small Montana town and spent the next 20 years as an integral part of the community helping to manage the church, introduce the youth to stamp collecting and follow all the sporting activities of Wibaux. He became ill in 2012 and moved to Spokane to live with his eldest son, Greg. Gene was preceded in death by his lovely daughter, Kate, and is survived by his three sons, Greg, Tim, and Ted, four grandchildren, his ex-wife Madeline, and his beloved cat Feisty. A ceremony for Gene will be held at Our Lady of Fatima's Catholic Church (3327 S Perry Street, Spokane, WA) at 10AM on November 11, 2014. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations could be made in Gene's memory to the St Peter's Building Maintenance Fund, 312 1st Ave S, Wibaux, MT 59353.