John Richardson Fitzpatrick (March 21, 1907 – July 9, 1989) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

athlete who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics.

Background

Fitzpatrick was born on March 21, 1907, in

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, Canada to John Duncan Fitzpatrick and Agnes Elizabeth Willson. While enrolled at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

, he was a member of the intercollegiate championship team in 1927. He completed a degree in engineering at the University of Toronto, graduating in 1933. In 1934, he married Grace Cowan, the daughter of Hugh Cowan and the sister of James Alexander Cowan, in Toronto. They had two sons, John McGillivray Fitzpatrick and Murray Alan Stuart Fitzpatrick.

Career

After serving briefly with the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

, he went on to work at

Shell Canada Shell Canada Limited (french: Shell Canada Limitée) is the principal Canadian subsidiary of British energy major Shell plc and one of Canada's largest integrated oil companies. Exploration and production of oil, natural gas and sulphur is a maj ...

researching diesel engines and

fuels A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...

. A career in sales followed with construction companies in Toronto and

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. In the early 1960s, Fitzpatrick worked for the Ontario's Ministry of Highways, rising to the position of deputy chief of the equipment section.

Athlete

Fitzpatrick raced out of the Hamilton Olympic Club. He played with the

Hamilton Tigers The Hamilton Tigers were a professional ice hockey team based in Hamilton, Ontario. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1920 to 1925. The Tigers were formed by the sale of the Quebec Bulldogs NHL franchise to Hamilton intere ...

as a senior member in 1926 and 1928, wherein they won the Grey Cup. In the same year, he was able to become part of

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's Olympic track and field team. He competed in the 100 meters where he finished fifth place and in the 200 meter race where he finished as a semifinalist. He was also a member of the Canadian relay team where they competed in the 4 x 100 meter relay; they were disqualified. In 1930, he won Canada's first medal at the inaugural

1930 British Empire Games The 1930 British Empire Games were the inaugural edition of what now is known as the Commonwealth Games, and were held in Hamilton, Ontario, from 16 to 23 August 1930. The games were organized by ''Hamilton Spectator'' sportswriter Bobby Robinso ...

held in Hamilton. When he entered the university, he was considered an important member of the

University of Toronto Varsity Blues The Toronto Varsity Blues is the intercollegiate sports program at the University of Toronto. Its 43 athletic teams regularly participate in competitions held by Ontario University Athletics and U Sports. The Varsity Blues traces its founding to ...

from 1929 to 1932. During his last year with the Varsity Blues, they were able to win the

Yates Cup The Yates Cup (french: La Coupe Yates) is a Canadian sports trophy, presented annually to the winner of the Ontario University Athletics football conference of U Sports. It is the oldest still-existing football trophy in North America, dating back ...

. He was also a leading member of intercollegiate track championship teams from 1927 to 1930. Within those three years, he won 10 medals wherein 7 of which are gold. In 1932 to 1933, he served in the University of Toronto Men's Athletic Directorate.

Competition record

Inventor

John Fitzpatrick invented a structure known as the Fitzpatrick Dome to store large quantities of road sand/salt mixtures used to treat roads in winter when ice and snow make driving hazardous. The igloo type design was helpful in areas where snowfall would otherwise accumulate on a flat-roof structure. The dome is a 20-sided conical shell 100 feet in diameter and 50 feet in height. As it is prefabricated, larger or smaller domes can be erected simply by adding or deleting rings. The first test structure was built in 1968 at a cost of C$17,000. The result was so successful that between 1968 and 1978, approximately 200 structures were erected in Ontario. John Fitzpatrick was granted a patent in 1972 for the invention. These structures continue to be used in Canada and internationally. While serving at the Ministry of Transportation in Ontario in the 1970s, John Fitzpatrick devised a bubbling system used in the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

to prevent ice from forming in the winter. The formation of ice had hindered ferries from connecting the people of the

Frontenac Islands Frontenac Islands is a township located in Frontenac County, Ontario, Canada, that encompasses a number of islands at the beginning of the Saint Lawrence River near the outlet of Lake Ontario, including: Arabella, Bayfield, Black Ant, Garden, G ...

to the mainland. The invention pumps compressed air through a network of perforated pipes at the river bottom that run between the docks and along the routes of the ferries. The bubbles hinder ice from forming which allows the ferries to function regularly in the winter.

Death

Fitzpatrick died on July 9, 1989, in Toronto at the age of 82. His resting place is at the Sanctuary Park Cemetery in Toronto.