Loretta (Rufo) and John Fitzgerald Fund

Loretta Fitzgerald died on October 11, 2002 at the age of 55 after a four-year battle with Multiple Myeloma. Loretta was born and raised in Malden but spent over half her life in Wakefield. She was the cherished wife of John and mother of Brendan and Nicholas and daughter of Dora Rufo of Malden and Reading. She was preceded in death by her father, Orient Rufo, Sr. and brother Orient, Jr., both of lung cancer.

She graduated from Malden High School in 1965 and Chandler School for Women in 1967. She was a legal secretary in Boston for several firms including Goodwin, Proctor and Hoar until the birth of Brendan in 1978. While her children were young, she held numerous part time jobs including day care and several years at Northeast Plastics. She also did volunteer office work at Wakefield High School. She returned to the legal secretarial field at a few firms in Wakefield and eventually found happiness and success at Skerry and Dixon in Medford Square.

During numerous chemotherapy and radiation treatments, Loretta continued to work and attend her sons’ baseball, basketball and soccer games. She had two stem cell transplants, which she scheduled so that she could attend Nicholas’ graduation from Wakefield High School and Brendan’s graduation from Northeastern University.

This scholarship was established to express Loretta’s love for her adopted home of Wakefield and her appreciation for the assistance her sons received from TSF while students. The expressions of love and support to Loretta and her family by the community of Wakefield during the past four years preceding her death were remarkable and will never be forgotten. The family hopes the establishment of this scholarship will be a meaningful expression of appreciation to the community and an honor to Loretta’s memory.