Kenneth W. Fisher *

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My dad and mom (Ken W. and Mildred Fisher) married in Nov. 1938, but they bought the lot for the house they planned to build more than a year before that. The lot they purchased was just a half-block away from the house where Mom grew up and where Grandpa and Grandma Miller lived. Mom drew the plans and in August 1937 Grandpa Andrew Fischer brought a team of horses and a scraper to dig the basement. Mom always said that our dad and her dad (John F. Miller) and a few friends built the house, but I never appreciated what they did until reading the meticulous notes she kept while it was being built. It took over year, but they got it done, and this was while working full time jobs at the furniture factory (Grandpa) and at the paper mill (Dad). Dad would have been 27 and Grandpa Miller 51 when they started.

Throughout his life, my dad loved woodworking projects. He constructed many sturdy toys for Pat and I, and to sell out of our basement or on consignment at local stores. (See newspaper article under the Media tab.) He always had a well-equipped shop in the basement, but it seemed to take forever for him to start letting me use the power tools.

Kind hearted too: I remember the first lesson I had when allowed to use his bandsaw. After the safety lecture, he let me try it and I was disappointed with how poorly I followed the curved lines. Then he demonstrated how to do it and I felt better after seeing that his cutting was about the same as mine – maybe a little better. However, now years later I realize that his work before and after that lesson in all cases was at least an order-of-magnitude more precise than the cut performed in that demonstration. Funny about that…

He instilled in me a love of making things with my own two hands that I will always be grateful for and which has added much joy to my life. .

His faith was important to him and the church was a big part of his life. I remember years of weekly meetings where he and mom and 2 or 3 other church members sat around our kitchen table after Sunday services “opening envelopes”. They were always happy to get it done and the money deposited in the bank’s drop box because they didn’t like having that kind of cash sitting around the house.

He also spent years making audio recordings of church services on an old heavy reel-to-reel recorder, and then lugging it around to drop off for a day or so at the homes of shut-ins or those confined to the house because of illness. I went with him a few times, but gave it up soon because I thought he lingered too long in conversation with whoever answered the door. Now I realize that was just another part of the ministry.

I was indeed blessed with nurturing and loving father.

Kenneth J. Fisher, Aug 2011.

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Obituary available under the Media tab.