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Brendan Crossan: Handballer Alec Fitzpatrick will always be remembered as a local legend of the road

The late Alec Fitzpatrick starred for O'Donnell's GAC and McDermott's GAC before moving to Pearses GAC in north Belfast where he left a lasting impression
The late Alec Fitzpatrick starred for O'Donnell's GAC and McDermott's GAC before moving to Pearses GAC in north Belfast where he left a lasting impression The late Alec Fitzpatrick starred for O'Donnell's GAC and McDermott's GAC before moving to Pearses GAC in north Belfast where he left a lasting impression

ALEC Fitzpatrick was 87-years-old. For the last number of years, he’d been suffering the ravaging effects of Alzheimer’s disease.

Last weekend, he died of Covid-19 in Our Lady’s Nursing Home in west Belfast. Another coronavirus statistic.

Alec Fitzpatrick didn’t even qualify as being a coronavirus ‘statistic’ – until the Department of Health decided earlier this week to start including those who died in care homes.

Our Lady’s Nursing Home near Beechmount has been hit hard by Covid19 with five residents perishing within the space of a week. Just like the others, to even describe Alec Fitzpatrick as a statistic is an injustice in itself.

Alec Fitzpatrick was somebody. He was a husband. A brother. A grandfather. A great grandfather. He was a soccer player of rich potential and a wonderful handballer.

His charm and wit could lift a nation.

Those who knew Alec loved him dearly. He was a local legend. A story-teller. An entertainer and a deeply intelligent man.

For 87 years he was the epitome of eternal youth.

"My father thought he was the missing member of the Rat Pack," said his son Mark (62).

Martin Campbell always occupied the right-hand side of the court, Alec the left.

For the best part of the 1990s, the Campbell-Fitzpatrick double act rarely lost a game as Pearses GAC of north Belfast climbed from Antrim’s basement of Division Eight right up to Division One.

“When Alec joined us in around 1989/90, he lifted the whole club,” recalls Martin. “He was maybe 30 years older than us, but he was just an incredible character. He was my doubles partner for about 10 years as we moved up the divisions.

“Alec had an eye for the ball, he knew where to stand and he was brilliant with the younger players coming through. He was in the thick of things training them. He was a brilliant trainer.

“A young Owen McKenna came along to us who had rich potential and Alec proved to be a fantastic mentor for him. Owen would say that himself."

After a distinguished soccer career with Boystown, Brantwood and Dundela, which included a trial for English League club Watford, Alec came late to handball. A prolific squash player, he began playing handball competitively after his 60th birthday.

He won Antrim and Ulster titles in his age category and competed in three All-Ireland finals. Lee Fitzpatrick worshipped the ground his grandfather walked – and shared his passion for handball.

“He once played the great Joey Maher who was apparently an absolute genius, and my grandfather idolised him,” says Lee. “He was beaten by Joey in an All-Ireland final. He kept the video tape of the game.

“He also played the great Billy Silcock who was world champion. He wouldn’t have shied away from playing anyone. I remember in one of the All-Ireland finals he was beaten by a priest, and he never got over the fact he was beaten by a priest!”

One story that was probably embellished by Alec himself down through the years took place prior to an Ulster final in the Over 70's category at Beechmount Leisure Centre – once the thriving hub of handball.

As the two men were getting ready for the decider, Alec’s opponent removed his wig and placed it in the locker.

The pair continued to chat.

A few seconds later, his opponent took off his glasses and then removed his false teeth.

Biting his tongue with laughter, and never one to pass up an opportunity, Alec turned to his opponent and said: ‘Big lad, I’d be as well playing that locker in this final because there’s more of you in there than there will be on the court!’

“Alec was always immaculately dressed,” recalls former Irish League player Gerry Clarke, who lives in Australia.

“He was the fittest man I knew. He had great wit and he looked fantastic for his age. He used to train every day. He was a button for Charles Bronson, a good-looking guy.

“In later years, he drove a black taxi up and down the Falls Road and I used to sit in the front just to have the craic with him, bearing in mind I was 18 or 19 at the time and Alec would have been in his 50's.

“You’d come to a zebra crossing and he’d see this little old woman crossing and Alec would say: ‘I used to go to school with her. Look at her, look at me. Look how young I am, Gerry.’ And both of us would be in stitches. He was king of the one-liners.

“He was just the loveliest guy,” Gerry adds. “I think he’d just become a grandparent around that time and he said to me: ‘It’s a pleasure to be a parent and it’s a privilege to be a grandparent.’

A carpenter by trade and originally from Varna Street on the Lower Falls Road, Alec spent a lot of his early life in America and helped run a few bars with his friend Ken McCoy in Queens, New York. Brother to Johnny and Rose, Alec married Gertie Davies in Toronto on New Year’s Eve, 1956, until she passed away in their New Barnsley home in November 2017.

“Alec used to dye his hair and curl it and he didn’t care who knew,” recalls west Belfast man and friend, Noel Ferran. “He was a real character, loved by all who knew him. Absolutely everybody on the road knew Alec Fitzpatrick.”

He represented O’Donnell’s GAC and McDermott’s GAC before moving across town to the Pearses club, and coached many youth soccer teams throughout the years.

Alec Fitzpatrick left an imprint on people. He always looked out for others and would greet you with a joke and a smile.

“He was never in bad form,” says his grandson Lee.

“He was the life and soul of any situation and a very, very loving person. He always ‘bigged’ people up if they were feeling low or down. He would have gone above and beyond for anyone. That was just him.”

Alec Fitzpatrick was 87-years-old. For the last number of years, he’d been suffering the ravaging effects of Alzheimer’s disease. Last weekend, he died of Covid19 in Our Lady’s Nursing Home in west Belfast.

Statistics are cold things. They don’t have narratives. They never get close nor do they attempt to tell the story of a man’s life.

Alec Fitzpatrick was somebody. He will always be remembered as a local legend of the road...