John Francis Fitzgerald Jr. was born in 1897 in Boston, Massachusetts, named directly after his father, the celebrated Mayor Thomas "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald, whose full name was John Francis Fitzgerald. The naming custom reflected both Irish Catholic tradition and the elder Fitzgerald's civic pride. John Jr. grew up in a family at the center of Boston's Irish Catholic political world, with a father who had served in Congress and would go on to a second term as mayor.
John Fitzgerald Jr. led a life that, while far less publicly prominent than his father's, was long and full. He died in 1979 at the age of 82, having witnessed the extraordinary transformation of his family's position in American life. His sister Rose married Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., and from that union came a president, two senators, and a political dynasty that reshaped American history.
His nephew John F. Kennedy was elected the 35th President of the United States in 1960 — the fulfillment, in many ways, of the ambitions that "Honey Fitz" had pursued for himself and projected onto his family. John Jr. lived through his nephew's presidency, his assassination in 1963, and the subsequent careers of Robert and Edward Kennedy, watching the family name achieve a national prominence that exceeded even his father's considerable Boston fame.
John Francis Fitzgerald Jr. is the late child of John Francis 'Honey Fitz' Fitzgerald and Mary Josephine 'Josie' Hannon.
John Francis Fitzgerald Jr. was named in the tradition of his father, Mayor John Francis Fitzgerald ("Honey Fitz"), reflecting the Irish Catholic naming customs common in early twentieth-century Boston.
John Fitzgerald Jr. was the uncle of President John F. Kennedy. His sister Rose Fitzgerald married Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., and their son became the 35th president.