neighbors
HE MADE GOURMET SANDWICHES
BEFORE THEY WERE A THING.
FitzPatrick says he probably spent
20 years on and off in the restau-
rant business. He was a bartender,
and at one point owned a little cafe
in Burlington, Vt., named the First
Waltz Cafe. It was primarily a lunch
place where he sold gourmet sand-
wiches and three homemade soups
every day. He also made quiches and
baked goods. He says it’s the kind of
place that would probably go over
well now, but back then gourmet
sandwiches weren’t as popular as
they would become.
FITZPATRICK BECAME A PROUD
NEW FATHER AT AGE 49.
Last year, FitzPatrick celebrated
the birth of his first child, a baby girl
named Galvin Presley FitzPatrick,
with his 46-year-old girlfriend, Eileen
Schley. They named her after her
maternal grandmother and “The
King,” Elvis Presley. FitzPatrick says
he knew since age 18 that he wanted
to be a father and have a family, but
it wasn’t until later in life that he set-
tled down. He was excited to be able
to announce her upcoming birth at
his 30-year high school class reunion.
14
HOLIDAY 2018 WAYNE MAGAZINE
FURNISHINGS FOR FUTURES Proceeds from sales at the ReStore go towards ending substandard
housing in Paterson.
County, N.Y. He ended up doubling
their sales. “I brought them about as
far as I could go,” he says. “I moved
to New Jersey, and I ended up just
stopping in to the ReStore here in
Wayne one day. A couple months
later I was working there.” ■
For more information about
the Habitat for Humanity ReStore
in Wayne and how to donate
or purchase products, visit
habitatrestorewayne.org.
HE ONCE ASPIRED TO BUY,
RENOVATE AND SELL HOUSES.
“That’s what I’ve always kind of
wanted to do, is to flip houses or buy
fixer-uppers and fix them up and sell
them,” he says. In his teenage years,
FitzPatrick worked construction with
his stepfather, and in the summers,
he worked on framing or remodeling
crews. He enjoyed the work and kept
it going for a while after high school
before he went to college. “Ever since
I was a kid working for other
contractors, I noticed the general
contractor lived in the nicest house
in town,” he says.
He came close to realizing
his dream, but the economy and
circumstances took him down a
different path. He got into real estate
just before the last market crash,
and about a year later he took a job
managing the ReStore in Westchester