This morning I attended an event I was not looking forward to, a funeral of a special friend. My friendship with Henry goes all the way back to my days at St. Mary of the Valley and Valley Catholic where his daughters attended during my time at the school. In addition to my connection with him at the school, he was on the Executive Board of CYO and Camp Howard when I was asked to join the board in 1995. I learned that Henry had designed the Aldergrove and Sparpole cabins and restrooms which he did as a gift to the camp. It was during these two years of board service that I got to know Henry.

In 1997 when the board asked me to take over the directorship of CYO/Camp Howard, Henry shared with me his desire that the camp work to help kids become better people for having attended. I thought about that all these years and it made its way into my perspective on how we design activities.

Henry gave a lot to various organizations but I think Camp Howard has the greatest number of his fingerprints from the cabin designs of Aldergrove, Sparpole and then Cougar Den in 2000, to Mary’s Lodge built in 2018 to serve as the new camp dining hall. Additionally, his team designed the Welcome Center and St. Michael the Archangel Youth Center. We kept Henry busy!

I listened as three of Henry’s children gave eulogies which beautifully described snapshots of Henry as lived through their eyes. Henry touched a lot of people as an architect and affected a lot of lives. I am grateful to have walked a good portion of the journey with Henry and to have been counted among his friends.

Henry Fitzgibbon being acknowledged for his role in designing the new Mary’s Lodge at Camp Howard in 2018.