Update fails: mod_fcgid: read data timeout
If running Webmin, check the Website Options under Server Configuration and set Maximum PHP script run time to unlimited or a largar value. 

This is what finally did the trick but updating /etc/apache2/mods-available/fcgid.conf with the following values may have also played a role.

FcgidConnectTimeout 600
FcgidIOTimeout 600
IPCCommTimeout 600


After these changes and restarting apache, the script was finally able to finish and update the installation successfully.