Maurice Fitzgibbons (1954-2011)

Maurice Fitzgibbons (November 27, 1954 – December 18, 2011) was an American Democratic Party politician who served on the Hudson County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders. He represented District 5, including Hoboken and portions of Jersey City. Fitzgibbons served in various leadership capacities on the Board, including as Board Chairperson in 1997.

Biography
Fitzgibbons, a native of Hoboken, was the son of Michael Fitzgibbons, a Hoboken Firefighters Union official. He graduated from Jersey City State College (now New Jersey City University), majoring in English and theater. He participated in an internship at the Roundabout Theatre Company in New York City and studied acting with the actress and acting coach Julie Bovasso.

Fitzgibbons was elected to the Ward 5 Democratic Committee in Hudson County in 1981. He was an early supporter of James Florio as Governor of New Jersey and became the state commissioner of ethnic affairs after Florio's election in 1989. He also served as a special assistant to the governor for constituent affairs and as administrator of the Cultural and Heritage Affairs Commission in Hudson County.

In 1993, Fitzgibbons was first elected as freeholder. As chair of the Board of Freeholders in 1997, Maurice Fitzgibbons spearheaded the planning of the Hudson County High School for the Performing Arts, which was proposed to be housed in the A.J. Demarest School in Hoboken (where Frank Sinatra attended high school).

In 2003, Fitzgibbons was appointed as Chairman of the Tourism and Cultural Affairs Committee, as the Representative of the Board on the New Jersey Association of Counties (NJAC), as an Alternate on the Workforce Investment Board, and as a Member of the Hudson County Board of School Estimate.

Fitzgibbons was not supported by the Hudson County Democratic Organization in 2008 and declined to run again for freeholder in order to pursue business interests. He died on December 18, 2011 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York at the age of 57.