Joyce Fitzpatrick
Joyce Fitzpatrick | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 July 1922 Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
| Died | 21 January 2018 (aged 95) Adelaide, South Australia, Australia |
| Occupation | educator |
| Known for | instituting reforms in South Australian schools to enable parents to play a more pivotal role |
Marjory Joyce Fitzpatrick AO (née Cawte, 15 July 1922 – 21 January 2018) was an Australian education advocate, author and a flight sergeant with the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force.[1][2]
Fitzpatrick is credited with helping institute reforms in South Australia which enabled parents to have more input in how their children's schools were managed.[1]
Early life[edit]
Fitzpatrick was born in Torrensville in the western suburbs of Adelaide, her father being a school headmaster. During her childhood, Fitzpatrick's family moved around South Australia living in such places as Streaky Bay, Waikerie, Solomontown and Plympton.[1]
She attended Adelaide High School but left early to pursue employment as a secretary.[1]
World War II[edit]
In 1941, following the outbreak of the second world war, Fitzpatrick joined the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force and relocated to Melbourne initially to assist with the shortage of male telegraphists.[1]
However, she rose to the rank of flight sergeant with the Z Force unit.[1][2]
Education reforms[edit]
Fitzpatrick married Ron Fitzpatrick, a Rat of Tobruk who she had met at a Melbourne railway station in 1942.[1]
With her husband becoming a school headmaster, the couple moved around South Australia and lived in various communities such as Whyalla, Coonalbyn, Bowman, Moorak, Port Augusta and Morphett Vale.[1]
Fitzpatrick began lobbying for parents to have a stronger role within the schools their children attended, and ultimately became the president of the South Australian Association of School Parents Communities.[1] In 1975, Fitzpatrick was one of the delegates who spoke at a rally of the Southern Eyre Peninsula Schools Welfare Association where she argued for a new scheme to assist high school students who were required to leave the local area for the final two years of secondary education.[3]
Fitzpatrick is credited with instituting sweeping reforms in the 1980s which enabled parents to have a better say in how their children's school were being managed.[1] She was frequently invited to speak at education seminars and conduct workshops for parents.[4][5][6][7]
Later life[edit]
Fitzpatrick had a great interest in writing and in 1987 wrote a biography recounting the life of Edith Strangway which was published in The Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal.[8]
In 1997 she helped establish a writer's group in Goolwa called "Sand Writers" where she wrote numerous short stories and poems which were published by the group.[1][9]
In 2007, Fitzpatrick and her husband invited eight World War II veterans to come together and share their wartime stories which were published in a book, The Stories of Us.[1]
Her husband Ron Fitzpatrick died at the age of 94 in 2013.[1]
Joyce Fitzpatrick died in Adelaide on 21 January 2018.[1]
Honours[edit]
In the 1988 Australia Day Honours, Fitzpatrick was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia for her service to education.[10]
Bibliography[edit]
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | I Was Born On The Finke | Biography recounting the life of Edith Strangway first published in The Aboriginal Child at School (June/July 1987 Volume 15 Issue 3) and The Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal (June 1987 Volume 11 Issue 2)[8][9] |
| 1997 | Trio con Arioso | Short story published in Sand Writers (Summer 1997 Volume 1 Issue 2) [9] |
| 1997 | Houlihan's Lament | short story published in Sand Writers (Winter 1997 Volume 1 Issue 1)[9] |
| 1997 | Mind Shadows | short story published in Sand Writers (Winter 1997 Volume 1 Issue 1)[9] |
| 1998 | Iron Bottom Sound (Guadalcanal: 1942–1998) | poem published in Sand Writers Poetry[9] |
| 1998 | Things I Don't See Often Any More | poem published in Sand Writers Poetry[9] |
| 1998 | O Fat White Woman | poem published in Sand Writers Poetry.[9] |
| 1998 | There was an old man on the Fleurieu? | poem published in Sand Writers Poetry[9] |
| 1998 | A Love Story | short story published in Sand Writers (Summer 1998 Volume 1 Issue 4)[9] |
| 2000 | Carolina Jessamine | short story published in Stories of Mystery and Romance (Spring 2000 Volume 1 Issue 3)[9] |
| 2000 | No Man's Land | short story published in Sand Writers (Winter 2000 Volume 1 Issue 7)[9] |
| 2000 | Ophelia | short story published in Stories of Courage and Exploration (Autumn 2000 Volume 1 Issue 1)[9] |
| 2002 | Encounters | periodical edited by Joyce Fitzpatrick, Vivienne Causby and Liz Sutherland[11] |
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Obituaries for February 10, 2018: Joyce Fitzpatrick, Doug Willson, Michael Gordon". The Advertiser. 9 February 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ a b "Biography: Joyce (Marjory Joyce) Fitzpatrick". AustLit. University of Queensland. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
- ^ "Big gathering at Welfare Assoc. rally". Port Lincoln Times. 30 June 1977. p. 4. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
Joyce Fitzpatrick spoke on the "Country-City Information Unit" - a new scheme to assist secondary students who have to leave Eyre Peninsula for years 11 and 12 schooling
- ^ "Year of the Child guest panel at welfare club". Port Lincoln Times. 24 May 1979. p. 15. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
Joyce Fitzpatrick will be guest speaker at the school on May 30.
- ^ "Workshops will look at issues in education". Port Lincoln Times. 12 June 1985. p. 2. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
The workshops would be conducted by patron Joyce Fitzpatrick...
- ^ "Education seminar to aid parents". Port Lincoln Times. 26 August 1986. p. 5. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
...and Joyce Fitzgerald would be guest speakers
- ^ "Guest speaker at parents' workshop". Port Lincoln Times. 14 April 1992. p. 14. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
Lock Parents and Friends Club recently hosted a workshop at Lock where the guest speaker was Mrs Joyce Fitzpatrick...
- ^ a b "Record 58297". Indigenous Studies Portal. University of Saskatchewan. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
Recounts Edith Strangway's life and how she challenged a government policy.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Works by Joyce (Marjory Joyce) Fitzpatrick". AustLit. University of Queensland. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
- ^ "Award 872478". Australian Honours Search Facility. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 1988. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Joyce; Causby, Vivienne; Sutherland, Liz, eds. (2002). "Encounters". Encounters. Vol. 2, no. 1. ISSN 1329-4997.