Carl Fitzpatrick

The following article was written by Barbara Stambaugh on September 18, 1958.

One of Jenkins' most civic-minded citizens is Carl Fitzpatrick who has promoted everything from clean-up campaigns to circuses during his 39 years here.

Whether he goes to bat for roads, streets or brings in a carnival, his promotions are the town's gain as some civic organization always gets the financial benefit from his efforts. Through the years, he has had his finger in almost every civic pie in Jenkins and says he has made working with such groups his hobby.

A hobby that has kept him hopping. An avid sports fan, he is president of the Jenkins Athletic Field, Inc., was a member of the Jenkins Board of Education for 20 years, is a member of the Jenkins Lodge No. 156, was commander of the American Legion, President of the Kiwanis Club, Lieutenant Governor of the Kiwanis, is a member of the Quarterback Club, a member of the Fish and Gun Club, and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.

As civic pie doesn't fill his stomach, he does have to take time out to see that the guests at his Lakeside Hotel are comfortable and that the doors open at the Fitzpatrick and Banks store at Burdine.

His first job in this area was not in Jenkins, however, as he worked for South-East Coal Company at Seco in 1916. A native Eastern Kentuckian, he was born at Jennis Creek in Johnson County in 1895 and attended Mayo College in Paintsville. It was back to Johnson County after working at Seco, and he decided to try the teaching profession for two years.

G‑30 It was after he served in World War I in 1919 that he made what he says is probably the longest visit in history. According to Fitzpatrick, he only planned to stay in Jenkins two weeks when he came here on a visit. During his stay, he was asked to relieve the assistant manager at the company store at Dunham. He further extended that two weeks to work as script writer,​a then decided to stay a little longer to manage the Jenkins Recreational Building and then lengthened his "visit" to become Division Manager of the Recreational Buildings. Finally, ten years ago, after becoming one of Jenkins' first independent businessmen, he decided his stay was permanent.

Fitzpatrick's first promotion in Jenkins was probably of himself to Hazel O'Connor whom he married in 1926. A daughter of Police Chief Jim O'Connor of McRoberts, the former Miss O'Connor moved from McRoberts to Florida with her family. Undaunted by miles, he says he went to Florida, married her, and brought her back to Kentucky.

Although he now has two irons in the business fire, he first bought the Jenkins Club House and converted it into the Lakeside Hotel. His 24‑guestroom building, appropriately enough, faces the Jenkins Lake which Fitzpatrick says, draws the more admiration from tourists. He says tourists also like the town, but he feels the lack of accommodations, such as more shops and a youth center, are drawbacks in developing a tourist industry.

He has been sharing his other iron in the fire with L. H. Banks for eight years. Fitzpatrick and Banks began their partner­ship by converting the Burdine Recreational Building into a grocery store. Last year, they bought and moved into the Burdine Champion Store Building.

Hard work is Fitzpatrick's formula for his business success. But now, wanting to have a little less of that hard work, he will sell, lease or rent his Lakeside Hotel. He feels that younger people can make more out of it than he can now.

He wants to stay close to his lakeside view, however, and is building a brick home behind the hotel, facing Oak Street. He also wants to stay in Letcher County, he says, no matter if it secedes to Virginia, Tennessee or Alaska.

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Thayer's Note:

a The gentle reader who may have dropped onto this one page out of context via a search engine should not imagine this has anything to do with writing film scripts. Mr. Fitzpatrick was a specialized form of cashier or bookkeeper, who kept tabs on scrip (in this book, regularly spelled script) issued as pay to miners in this company town.

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