Former Player and Coach Passes Away
December 10, 2004 | Volleyball
The Badger athletic family has lost a former standout player and coach. Margie Fitzpatrick, 38, passed away Sunday, Dec. 5, after a two-year battle with breast cancer. Fitzpatrick (then Kaminski) was a standout player for the Badgers from 1984-88, earning most valuable player honors twice as an outside hitter.
She became an assistant volleyball coach for the Badgers from 1990-93, and was able to celebrate the Badgers first Big Ten Conference Volleyball Championship in 1990. She was called upon to serve as interim head coach during the 1991 season after UW head coach Steve Lowe died suddenly of cancer during August of '91. Fitzpatrick led the Badgers to a 23-10 record and tied for third place in the Big Ten and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. She went to Northwestern as the head volleyball coach in 1994.
Fitzpatrick is survived by her husband, Michael of Sun Prairie and her three children, Colin, Kevin and Meghan, all at home.
Donations in Margie's name can be made to either:
Don and Marilyn Anderson Hospice Care Facility
5395 E. Cheryl Parkway
Fitchburg, WI 53711
or the American Cancer Society
