Paul C. FitzGerald, 90, of Sandy Hook, passed away on August 29, 2026.

Born January 16, 1936, Paul was a son of John and Helen FitzGerald and grew up in Newton, Massachusetts. He attended Yale University for three years before transferring to Boston University, where he played hockey alongside his brother, C. Peter FitzGerald, and earned his degree. Paul served in the United States Navy and went on to a career as an engineer at Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford.

An engineer by profession and a builder by nature, Paul could build just about anything, and it started with cars. As a young man, he raced dragsters with the Nomads out of Boston and built a 1932 Ford Roadster that so impressed a Yale admissions counselor that his college interview moved from the office to the parking lot. The story was later featured in Hot Rod Magazine. Fifty years later, Paul found and rebuilt that same roadster and proudly drove it by invitation in the Tour d’Elegance at Pebble Beach. He later built a Shelby Cobra in his home workshop — although once it was finished, fitting his long legs into it proved to be another engineering challenge.

But it was never just cars. Paul built furniture for his family, crafted muzzleloaders, constructed decks and fences, and was known to return from a family vacation inspired by something his wife, Jane, admired, only to recreate it at home. His hands were rarely idle and often bore the evidence of his latest project — wood shavings, sawdust and remnants of grease.

Paul hunted in the woods behind his Sandy Hook home and traveled to Colorado on elk hunting trips. He logged and split firewood to feed the family wood stove through Connecticut winters. Annual family trips took him hiking and camping in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and to Popponesset Beach on Cape Cod, where he sailed and windsurfed.

Paul and Jane also loved to travel together. They returned to Bermuda more than a dozen times and especially treasured their travels through the Black Forest in Germany. Wherever they went, Paul was likely to come home with a new idea for something to build — a window box, a fence, a bench — that would become another piece of their life together.

He was an avid fan of the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR, loved John Wayne westerns, and could frequently be found in his cowboy hat.

Paul and Jane Rowins FitzGerald made their home in Sandy Hook in a house Paul built alongside Jane’s father. There, on Rowledge Pond, they raised their three children and created a home filled with fishing, canoeing, hunting, skating, swimming, projects, family gatherings and, eventually, the happy commotion of six grandchildren. Paul and Jane would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this fall.

Those six grandchildren knew him as Grampie. Beneath his sometimes gruff exterior was a grandfather who made pancakes and waffles, took them for ATV rides and ice cream, attended their games, performances, First Communions and graduations, and took enormous pride in each of them. They filled Rowledge Pond with what Paul good-naturedly called “excess noise,” and they brought him immeasurable joy.

Paul is survived by his beloved wife of 60 years, Jane; his children, Kelly Carey and her husband, Paul; Kirsten FitzGerald and her fiancé, Anthony Perrelli; and Adam FitzGerald and his wife, Karin Savitsky FitzGerald; and his six grandchildren, Patrick Carey, Jill Carey, Timothy Carey, Liam Gelston, Ryan FitzGerald and Parker FitzGerald.

He was predeceased by his parents, John and Helen FitzGerald; and his brother, C. Peter FitzGerald.

Of all the things Paul built during his 90 years, nothing made him prouder than the family he and Jane built together. He approached the things he made with ingenuity, determination and his whole heart. He brought that same wholeheartedness to his nearly 60-year marriage, to raising his family, and to the life he built for all of them.

Friends are invited to attend his funeral service on Saturday, September 5, 2026, at 10 am, at St Rose of Lima Church, 46 Church Hill Road in Newtown. Interment to follow at Resurrection Cemetery, Newtown.

Arrangements in care of the Cyril F. Mullins Funeral Home, Trumbull. For more information or to leave an online condolence, please visit mullinsfh.com.