However, in 1975 tragedy struck when Frank Fitzpatrick suffered a heart attack and passed away in the shop on a busy Saturday afternoon. Frank’s death was a huge blow to the family, and it left Carmel in what many people perceived to be an impossible position. Newly widowed, with five children still in school, she faced the colossal task of also running the business.
In the case of our story, Carmel was not overwhelmed by her extraordinarily trying circumstances and deeply upsetting situation but instead, with the help of her children, continued to run and grow a flourishing greengrocer’s business.