Topic: John Francis

John Francis "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald (February 11, 1863–October 2, 1950) was an Irish-American politician and the maternal grandfather of US President John F. Kennedy.

Fitzgerald was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Irish immigrants, Thomas Fitzgerald of County Limerick and Rosanna Cox of County Cavan. He was the fourth of twelve children; of his siblings, both sisters died in infancy, as did his eldest brother. Joseph, the ninth brother, had severe brain damage from malaria and barely functioned. Only three survived in good health and after John's mother died when he was sixteen, his father wished for him to become a doctor to help prevent future tragedies of the sort that had marred the Fitzgerald family.

Accordingly, after being educated at Boston Latin School, he enrolled at Harvard Medical School for one year, but withdrew following the death of his father in 1885. Fitzgerald later became a clerk at the Customs House in Boston and was active in the local Democratic Party.