Orlando Sentinel’s Kelly Fitzpatrick Passes Away

- Michelle Snow

Over the years, the Orlando nightlife scene has been written about by many, including myself. But none had more love and enthusiasm for this scene than Orlando Sentinel’s nightlife columnist, Kelly Fitzpatrick.

Sadly, it seems that voice has been silenced, as it was revealed this weekend that Fitzpatrick passed away early Friday morning (September 23) at home in her sleep. The cause of her death has yet to be determined. She was 36.

She started at the Sentinel 15 years ago, working her way to her own column and one thing that really set her stories apart were that she always tried to find the fun in every situation. Yes, she did the standard calendar-type of articles (this is happening here at this time, etc.), but when she reviewed a place or event, she always based a lot of her opinion on whether people were having fun…and whether she had fun.

That’s one thing we often agreed on. It doesn’t matter whether it was a dive bar or a high-end club, people should be having fun when they went out. And she didn’t just highlight bars and clubs, but she explored all that Orlando had to offer for entertainment, including art galleries, festivals, live music, and more.

In losing Fitzpatrick, Orlando not only lost a voice of the city but a good-hearted person who truly cared about the people she met and friended along the way.

We’ll miss you Kelly.

Funeral service will be held at Annunciation Catholic Church at 10 am on Wednesday, September 28th at Annunciation Catholic Church 1020 Montgomery Rd Altamonte Springs, FL 32714 The burial will take place immediately after the service at Highland Park Memorial Cemetary in Apopka.

Our condolences to her family.

[Photo courtesy Kelly Fitzpatrick’s Facebook page]

About Michelle Snow

Michelle is the owner and editor of CitySurfing Orlando. She also owns Zengrrl.com, is a freelance writer specializing in travel and entertainment, has authored/co-authored four guidebooks on Orlando and Florida, and is head editor/writer at TheDisneyBlog.com. She's lived in Orlando near Walt Disney World since 1995, and still finds there's so much fun to be had in Central Florida.
Scroll To Top