News

Funeral service is set for Vaughan Fitzpatrick

By Lightning Reports, Published: November 9, 2025

Victor Vaughan Owen Fitzpatrick died in New Orleans on Oct. 28, 2025, after a sudden illness caused by an aggressive metastatic cancer. He was 76.

A gifted storyteller and a man of powerful intellect, his deep and genuine curiosity and expansive knowledge of a panoply of subjects made him highly sought after as a source of sage advice, learned perspective, and thought-provoking discussion.

Whether at a lunch table at one of his treasured New Orleans clubs or in a rocking chair on the porch of his mountain house in Hendersonville, North Carolina, Vaughan Fitzpatrick was sure to be engaging in a stimulating conversation punctuated by boisterous laughter. He was as comfortable chatting with his toddler grandson as he was speaking with a Russian oligarch.

He lived his life in equal measures of mirth and purposefulness. He was selfless and a visionary, putting the considerations of distant generations far ahead of his own. Vaughan was a man of kindness, love, and noble virtues. He was respected by his peers, loved by his family and friends, and will be mourned by all who knew him.

Vaughan was born in New Orleans on July 3, 1949, to William H. and Francis James Gasquet Westfeldt “Coo” Fitzpatrick, both native New Orleanians. He grew up in New York and Virginia. Summers were enjoyed in the mountains of Western North Carolina, where his New Orleans-based extended family has vacationed for over 150 years.

He was a proud and devoted graduate of Woodberry Forrest School in Orange, Virginia. He attended college at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he met his beloved Mary Shelton. They wed in 1972.

Vaughan and Mary began their married life abroad in Naples, Italy, through Vaughan’s service in the U.S. Navy as an officer on a destroyer in the Sixth Fleet and at NATO. Life as expats suited them, and they decided to learn Arabic to advance Vaughan’s career prospects overseas. They studied in Lebanon at the Middle East Center for Arab Studies until civil war broke out there, forcing their evacuation and relocation to St. Antony’s College in Oxford, England.

A return to New Orleans and Vaughan’s enrollment in Tulane Law School followed, including summer clerkships in Egypt and Bahrain. Upon graduation and passing the bar exam, Vaughan embarked on a long and multifaceted career as an executive with Chevron oil company, living and working in Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and London, while traveling for projects in spots as varied as India, Turkey, and the Horn of Africa. He was a highly skilled negotiator, excelling in complex situations requiring political, governmental, and tribal strategic awareness.

After retiring from Chevron initially in 1992, the company called him back in 1995 to serve as president of its Russia division (called Chevron Neftegaz). Vaughan managed all of Chevron’s operations in Russia, including facilitating the construction of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline from Kazakhstan across Russia to the Black Sea.

Vaughan, Mary and their sons Fletcher and Welles moved home to New Orleans’ Garden District in 1992. They promptly became deeply enmeshed in the social and civic fabric of the city.

After his eventual second retirement from Chevron, Vaughan devoted time to the mission of preserving his family’s legacy in North Carolina. He oversaw the meticulous deconstruction, relocation and transformation of the family’s historic summer homestead the Green House to a small nearby mountain, christened Two Jacks. With this move, he secured more generations of North Carolina summers for his extended family.

On the old family property where the Green House once stood, Vaughan worked closely with local government officials to develop the United States’ first green industrial park. A resounding success, Ferncliff Industrial Park has become a major driver of tax revenue and employment in Henderson County, North Carolina.

In the wake of Mary’s sudden tragic death in 2013 after 41 years of marriage, Vaughan was comforted by his loyal dog Kahn. In 2017, he was seated next to Melissa Gibbs at a New Orleans dinner party. He found in her a kindred soul whose wanderlust and sense of curiosity matched his own. They married in 2023. Melissa’s joie de vivre and devoted companionship gave Vaughan an unlimited amount of joy and intellectual stimulation in his final years. They traveled widely, spending several months each year in France, and exploring numerous locations in Central and South America in particular. One of their last trips together was to see Vaughan’s dear friends in Saudi Arabia. Melissa also shared Vaughan’s love for his treasured Two Jacks in North Carolina. Vaughan enjoyed nothing more than hiking that mountain with Melissa by his side, often with a grandchild in tow, singing songs of his youth or telling tall tales.

Vaughan was an enthusiastic and dedicated member of many New Orleans social clubs and Carnival organizations. He was a past board member of numerous civic and charitable organizations, including the Bureau of Governmental Research and the Preservation Resource Center.

He was predeceased by his first wife Mary Shelton Fitzpatrick, his parents William and Francis “Coo” Fitzpatrick, and his brother Peter Fitzpatrick.

Vaughan is survived by his wife Melissa Gibbs Fitzpatrick, his sons from his first marriage Fletcher Dugan Westfeldt (Lessley) Fitzpatrick and Welles Fleetwood Westfeldt (Laura) Fitzpatrick, his grandchildren Mary Harris Westfeldt Fitzpatrick, Evelin Hastings “Evie” Fitzpatrick, and James Fenner Fleetwood “Fenn” Fitzpatrick. He is also survived by his brothers Whitfield and James Fitzpatrick. As the Fitzpatrick family patriarch in New Orleans, Vaughan also leaves behind his adored nephews, nieces, cousins, and their children – many of whom carry on his legacy in the family’s cherished city. Words cannot express how much they will miss him.

A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1329 Jackson Avenue. Visitation will begin at noon. A private interment for family will follow.