A Continuing Legacy

New Foundation President Ryan Fitzpatrick is Proud to Follow in His Dad’s Footsteps in Serving Stan State

BY LORI GILBERT

As he begins his term as president of the Board of Directors of the Stanislaus State Foundation, Ryan Fitzpatrick has plenty of ideas.

Diversifying the board as it recruits and retains members, streamlining paperwork approval at meetings so there’s more time spent in conversation and giving members time to voice matters important to them are a part of his vision.

A Foundation Board member since 2014, Fitzpatrick is excited to effect change as he leads the team dedicated to raising philanthropic support for scholarships and other innovative programs for the University.

What gets him really animated, though, are Stan State students.

“I’ve been fortunate to hire quite a few alumni from this University,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’ve had some tremendous people work for us and imagine I will only see more and more come and work in our industry or industries like it. It inspires me when I work with young people, and I want to continue to support the University that produces such talented people.”

A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, Fitzpatrick is the President of the Fitzpatrick Dealership Group which operates Valley Lexus, Valley BMW, Valley Kia and Coliseum Lexus of Oakland.

He assumed the position in 2015 upon the retirement of his late father, a groundbreaking businessman who by 2006 had built the largest Black-owned dealership in California.

Before establishing those dealerships, Ed Fitzpatrick owned a dealership in Renton Washington, and Ryan, looking to spread his wings, left the Evergreen State to attend Cal.

He turned his economics degree into a position at Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale.

“I knew I would probably come and work in the family business, but I wanted to do something on my own in the beginning,” Fitzpatrick said. “My dad wanted me to come and work for him right away. We went through the next year, year and a half negotiating the terms of working together.

“We worked things out, and it was a great career move for me to work with him.”

Ryan Fitzpatrick said his father allowed him to establish his own leadership style, so he was ready to step in as COO.

That’s not the only place where Ryan Fitzpatrick followed in his dad’s footsteps.

Ed, who passed away in 2020, joined Stan State’s Foundation Board in 2003, becoming its first Black member.

He and Bertha were generous benefactors and regulars at Warrior basketball games. The arena was renamed in their honor in 2009.

“Being a local business owner, a familyowned business, we want to invest in the community,” Ryan Fitzpatrick said. “It’s so important. What better way to invest in the community than to invest in education?”

Education was paramount to his parents. Ed graduated from the University of Ohio and Bertha, who grew up in Mississippi, was one of three Black women to integrate the community college in Hattiesburg before fulfilling her parents’ dream by joining her siblings in earning a university degree.

The value of a college education was impressed upon Ryan and his elder brother, Sean. Neither attended Stan State — Sean attended Western Washington University — but Ryan understood his parents’ connection to Stan State, especially after meeting students his father hired.

As an entrepreneurial leader, he continues to provide jobs and internships to them.

“It’s an opportunity to give back and also show what this industry can do for people,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s been a great industry for our family, clearly, and I think people are seeing an opportunity for themselves and their families.”

He knows his company is making a difference for students. As Foundation Board president, he sees an opportunity to do more.

Ryan’s Warrior heart and passion were ignited, as so much in his life, by the example set by his parents.

He cherishes the memory of Stan State renaming the arena in 2009 to honor Ed and Bertha, and the 2021 Commencement ceremony when Ed and Bertha were bestowed with Stan State’s and the California State University’s highest honor, the Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.

The occasion that stands out most though, came about six years ago and is commemorated in a photo hanging on Fitzpatrick’s office wall.

“Stan State presented a plaque to the family, to my parents specifically, and we went on the court at halftime and accepted the award,” Fitzpatrick said. “My kids were there, my wife (Jenise) and my parents. It was a great moment. My kids (Devin, Darius and Danika) were having a great time celebrating Warrior pride. It’s something I will always remember — a time the family came together to support the University. I’ll never forget that, and the picture will be on my wall forever.”