In the 1960s, DePaul University College of Commerce students were required to meet with the Rev. Bernard FitzGerald, C.M., the assistant dean for counseling, as incoming freshmen and as graduating seniors. A lot of students gladly visited his office many times in between.

"They knew he cared about them and their problems. He was a wonderful person," said Karen Stark, assistant dean and director of DePaul's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business who was FitzGerald's secretary in the 1960s.

FitzGerald, 85, died April 23 in Perryville, Mo. He had been retired since 1981 after working at DePaul for 26 years. A Mass of the Resurrection was said April 25 at St. Mary's of the Barrens in Perryville.

A memorial Mass will be celebrated at noon, May 12, in the Miraculous Medal Chapel in Lewis Center, 25 E. Jackson Blvd. A reception will follow immediately.

Father Fitz, as he was called, served at DePaul from 1955-81. For many years he was the chaplain at the Loop Campus.

"He was a Campus Ministry office rolled into one person," said Stark. "He really was the personification of Vincentian personalism."

FitzGerald was a priest for nearly 58 years, being ordained at St. Mary's Seminary in Perryville in 1939. He was born in 1911 in Kankakee. From 1939 to 1955 he was assigned to DePaul Academy, where he was dean of students and taught theology.

While at DePaul, FitzGerald said daily Mass at DePaul's Lewis Center chapel. His relationship with students was such that many later asked him to preside at their wedding.

"He was a friend to all. He had a 1,000 friends," said Philip Kemp, a former Commerce student who now coordinates the College of Commerce's Program for the Enhancement of Teaching.

Commerce alumni scheduled to undergo serious surgery or facing other crises often called FitzGerald. "They asked him to pray for them," said Stark. "They thought he had a direct line to heaven."