Gaylia Ann Fitzgerald

Gaylia Ann Fitzgerald, age 91, passed away peacefully on June 18, 2026, in Round Rock, TX. She was born to parents Ruby Ida Salter, née Behrens, and Clarence Leroy Salter on April 9, 1935, in Voca, Texas. Gaylia proudly noted that she was born the same year as Elvis Presley, Julie Andrews, Johnny Carson, and the Dalai Lama, among many of her favorite Silent Generation contemporaries. Often asked, she explained that her unique name was taken from a play “Happy Valley” that was presented in the small rural Voca community; a name her parents loved and decided to use if they were blessed with a girl. Growing up in a devout community, Gaylia was traditionally baptized in the San Saba River at an early age, attending the Liberty Baptist Church in Voca, TX where she played the piano and was the church clerk.

Known in later life to have a deep love for cats, her first pets on the Voca farm were a goat and a dog. “I would tie one end of the rope to the goat and the other end to the dog and then lead them all over the place. I do not know which one of us was the happiest.” The farming path of her family was not an attraction of hers. Instead, she loved to roam the land eating pecans, wade in the creek water, read extensively, play with (and fantasize about having a collection of) dolls, and dream of travelling the world. Plans after her big town Brady, TX high school days were to move to the Texas capital to start her adventure in the big city of Austin.

Gaylia lived with families and the YWCA in Austin while attending Durham’s Business College, graduating in 1954, and then working for the State of Texas. Getting a head start on her world adventures, at age 21, she spent a month in 1956 travelling by Gray Line bus to Tennessee, Virginia, Washington D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, and Illinois. When back working, attending socials at her YWCA, and spending countless hours at Barton Springs and other Austin area attractions, Gaylia met and subsequently married, in 1958, Intelligence Officer Carl Russell McGraw, stationed at the Austin Bergstrom Air Force Base, but overseas, mainly in Asia, during much of their dating and early married life.

The McGraws settled down to manage apartment complexes in North Austin (plus producing three wonderful children, Sean, Scott, and Keri!), and after their parting, Gaylia continued the career as the founding construction then apartment manager of an exciting new garden apartment community developing in South Austin, The Forest Apartments (3707 Manchaca Rd), opened in 1973. She worked there for eight years until the apartments were sold and then she headed back to the State of Texas to work for the TX Parks and Wildlife Department until retirement with a full pension.

A majority of her free time until her three children flew the nest for their respective universities, Gaylia made sure they had a good life, from trips to Six Flags, a Bandera TX dude ranch, Houston to see the Houston Astros play, and White Sands National Park, for example, to encouraging all of the their sports hobbies, church outings, and numerous visits to stay with the grandparents. Later, with her husband, John Venthem, she ushered at the Austin Symphony Orchestra and camped all over the United States. After he died, she fell in love with her current husband, Pat Fitzgerald, and together they travelled the world, completing Gaylia’s childhood dream. Both proud Texans, they spent time travelling Texas as well, and supporting their Texan football teams, with the Longhorns, of course, being the favorite.

Lastly, Gaylia was a queen of creativity. From her childhood to post-retirement, with no audience in mind, she loved to write sardonic autobiographical and social commentary essays. When that release of creativity was not enough, she continued to perfect the art of maximizing her wardrobe and to Pat’s bewilderment, left absolutely no surface undecorated inside and outside their home.

Gaylia is survived by her husband William Patton “Pat” Fitzgerald; son Sean McGraw and wife Janet, son Scott McGraw and wife Jennifer, daughter Keri Marrella and husband Paul; stepdaughter Patricia Neumann and husband Franz, stepson Michael Fitzgerald, and stepdaughter-in-laws Lien Dieu and Stephanie Fitzgerald; grandchildren Megan Nguyen and husband Steven, Aidan McGraw and wife Nozomi, Tyler, Kyle and Connor McGraw, step-grandchildren Tobias and Josefine Nuemann, Samatha Cook and husband Ryan, Joshua Fitzgerald; and great-grandchildren Lila and Lucy Nguyen, Leo McGraw, and Skyler and Rylee Cook.

A memorial celebrating the life of Gaylia Ann Fitzgerald will take place on Saturday, July 18, 2026, starting at 10:00am. Contact 571-305-3190 for details. In lieu of flowers, please donate to or volunteer at your local pet shelter in her memory. She’d love that. Gaylia Ann Fitzgerald, fearlessly independent, boundlessly creative, eternal in our hearts.