Fr John was born July 4th in 1951 and grew up in Killarney and Koroit. He spent much of his youth working on the family farm alongside his siblings. He attended St Brigid's Crossley and St Patrick's Koroit before attending St Patrick's College in Ballarat. Fr John entered Corpus Christi College Seminary at Werribee in 1970. When that closed, he completed his studies at the new seminary in Clayton. He completed his theological studies in 1978.

Father John Fitzgerald was ordained in Koroit on November 24th, 1978 and has faithfully served the Catholic Church for nearly 48 years. After Ordination, His first appointment was to the Parish of Horsham. He then spent three and half years at the Cathedral College, which included serving as Chaplin at St Patrick's College. He then spent a year in Terang, after which the Bishop invited him to undertake further studies prior to taking up the appointment as Director of Religious Education for the Ballarat Diocese from 1988 to 1993.

In 1994, Father John was appointed Parish Priest of Daylesford with the Parish of Creswick later included in his ministry. In January 2004, He was appointed Parish Priest of St Joseph's, Warrnambool, and in October 2021, he became moderator of the Star of the Sea Parish.

In 2024 Father John, was elected as a Director of the Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Limited (DOBCEL), where he continues to support and nurture Catholic Education for students across the Diocese's schools.

He has demonstrated a truly selfless lifelong commitment to God and the Church, extending into the everyday lives of parishioners. His compassion, generosity and dedication to the Parish will be greatly missed.

Father John Fitzgerald will say his final Mass as Parish Priest of Star of the Sea Parish on Sunday 26th July at 10:30am. Each church will have a special celebration event on the dates listed below.

Sunday June 14th - St Anne's, Purnim

Sunday 28th June - St Patrick's, Port Fairy

Sunday 5th July - Infant Jesus, Koroit

Sunday 12th July - St Pius X, Warrnambool West

Saturday 18th July - Our Lady Help of Christians, Warrnambool East

Sunday 19th July - St Joseph's, Warrnambool, 6:00pm

Sunday 26th July - St Joseph's Warrnambool, 10:30am