Angel “Max” Fitzgerald passed away on March 18, 2021, at his home in Lawrence, Kansas. No services will be held at this time.
Max was born in Guatemala in August 2001 and adopted at age 10 months by Barry Fitzgerald and Lori Johns. Growing up he loved nature, fishing, raising tarantulas and snakes, summer camp at Camp Wood, and hiking in Colorado with his parents and cousin Doug Davis. He participated in wrestling at West Middle School and cross country at LHS, and played the bass in school orchestras. He enjoyed mastering new skills like skateboarding, unicycling, ceramics in Lawrence Art Center’s family pottery, and solving the Rubix Cube.
Max is survived by his parents, his grandmothers, Ann Fitzgerald and Betty Johns, aunts, uncles, cousins, and many family friends in Lawrence as well as Michigan and New York. He was preceded in death by his beloved grandfather, Roger Johns and his Uncle Scott Fitzgerald.
Max’s parents welcome memorial gifts to the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, an invaluable source of support for the family over the last several years.
Lori and Barry – I am so sorry about Max. From the minute he arrived, you gave him a great life. My heart is with you.
Lori and Barry, we care about you and are deeply sorry for the loss of your son Max. We hope your never ending love for him and for each other will bring an end to your grief. Our sincere sympathies, Mary and Ed
Barry, Lori, i am so terribly sorry for your loss. Max was a good friend and kind spirit. He was always so adventurous and curious about nature and creepy crawly little creatures! I will always remember coming over and skateboarding and exploring the woods down the road, playing xbox and looking at his animals! He even let me hold his scorpion once! I am heartbroken. I send love and prayers your way.
Dear Uncle Barry and Lori,
I’m so sorry to hear about Max’s passing. Please know that you are in my thoughts. I’m praying that you can find strength and comfort as you grieve.
Sending love,
Julie
Lori and Barry, I am so sorry. I am here for you, just reach out and I will listen and do my best to understand. I may only be able to give you an ear, but I know you will feel my love and support. I cannot imagine your experience, but I can share my memories of Max when he was young, happy and smiling in the summertime, while visiting his Grandma. You were so fortunate to share your love with your beautiful Max. I have no wisdom but can offer unconditional Love; and support – I have learned a lot since 7th grade. Sincerely, John, Heather and the kids
This is so sad. He was like a brother to me when I was around him he is such a loyal person to people he really cares about he had the most stubborn but pure personality one of the greatest people I ever knew he and I were very close when he was around such an amazing soul may he Rest In Peace.
Words can not describe how much Max meant to me. He was my best friend through all of life’s challenges. He was always there for me even when I was really depressed to cheer me up and to let me know that someone cared about me. I will never forget the best times I had with him. We used to go skating almost everyday weather permitting and I’ll never forget all the biking we used to do together down town and by the river and how we used to play video games together and try to make YouTube videos about it. We used to get a bunch of Mountain Dew and record us playing tons of Call of Duty and Borderlands and it was just such a great time together. And it’s times like those that always brought a smile on my face because of him. He was always there for me and supportive, he helped encourage me to get a better job. He used to teach me tons of fun stuff about skating and we used to do laps around downtown just having fun playing music together. Good times and memories like that will stay with me forever all thanks to Max. He was the best friend a guy could ask for. And I’ll never forget all the times he would show me cool awesome things and the times we had air soft fights and all the great times we went outside together, and just all the skating we used to do and video games we used to play together or the times we used to play with our boomerangs and stuff together. Great times I can only credit to him. He was a perfect great person with an amazing personality and there was no one else in the whole wide world that could ever be as good and trustworthy of a friend as he was. Thoughts and prayers. Wherever he is at. I hope he’s in a better place, at peace, watching over all the people he loved and who loved him too. He had the biggest heart a person could have and cared about everyone. You don’t always see that in a person. I will never forget you best friend, there will always be a place Deep deep in my heart for you that will always be there for you no matter what, you changed my outlook in life for the better and I owe it all to you thank you. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Im sorry for your loss. I loved him amd will continue to love him he was an amazing man and i cant believe he is gone. Until we meet again angel.
I am so sorry for your loss i loved him wven when we had our bad times he was an amazing man
Thank you for sharing the gift of your son. The picture I will always hold in my brain is that devilish grin on his face with a tilt to his head and a glimpse from behind his bangs while he was testing the limits. May you be blessed with good memories.
Barry and Lori,
My heart is breaking for you. Please know that I am holding you close in my thoughts, praying that you find comfort in the wonderful memories and support of all who love you and Max. With tender and loving hugs from afar, Sherry Warren
Our family extends our love and support to you and Barry
Please know our family is here for you for whatever you want/need.
We have fond memories of Max and were fortunate to have been a part of his journey. We spent some time these past few days reflecting with Chance on the ‘Deerfield Days’ & going through pictures and telling stories of neighborhood skateboarding & driveway daredevil stunts.
We will be here whenever you are ready.
Love and hugs to you, Barry, your extended family and all those who grieve the loss of Max.
Call anytime~
A.
I met Angel through my boyfriend of 3 years Kendall. Kendall had known Angel since middle school, and he introduced me to him around late 2018 early 2019. I was instantly friends with Angel, he was one of my best friends actually… I always loved hanging out with him, and Kendall. We always had good times together. There was never a point with Angel that we had a bad time. He was a great friend, he always sent me supportive messages and told me all the time how much he loved me and how much all the time we’ve spent together has meant to him. I already miss him so much… The last thing I got to say to him was “I wish you were here…” And that will be forever my last wish … ? I miss you Max. Please rest in peace you deserve the world.
Lori and Barry. I will always remember your trip to Sugar Springs when we took Max fishing out on my boat. There were many smiles and laughs We even played some Qwirkle. You will always be in my prayers. Nancy
Lori and Barry, I am so shocked and saddened to hear this news.
My deepest sympathies and condolences to you and the whole family at this difficult time.
Lori And Barry- of course our words are not adequate… Please know that our intention is to convey our deep sadness for your pain and loss. We want to express our respect and compassion for you both and our desire to help ease your pain over time in whatever way might speak to you. We want your company, and respect your privacy. We offer our ears and our shoulders… and our distraction, if that is what you need at some point.
As parents, we understand that our children do not belong to us and their road is their own, and we are left vulnerable because we love so much. Thank you both for people that you are. We celebrate the life of your son and cry with you for his loss.
Our deepest sympathies ar with you, friends.
Lori and Doug
I am so sorry for your loss. I was easily overwhelmed about planting flowers at our farm. After Angel’s internship at Sunrise, he taught me to plant my flowers in purples and pinks in the farm. Now, it is spring, and those pink and purple flowers have come up again and made me think of Angel and his smile. As you know, he enjoyed nature so much, and we discussed the joys we found in nature often. I loved introducing him to Mary Oliver’s poems. That will always be another favorite memory. I teased him that if he ever tried to quit school, I would move into the guest bedroom, and I asked him if my new name would be Fitzgerald or Johns; we laughed so hard. Then, he would tease the other kids that we could never quit school like we want cause McK will just come to our houses. That smile will stay with me forever. Thank you for sharing him with me.