Daniel Charles Fisher

Daniel Charles Fisher, 99, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, November 23, 2016 at his home on Burt Lake surrounded by his family.  Mr. Fisher was born on September 19, 1917 in Detroit, Michigan to Daniel Charles Fisher and Mabel Cecilia (Kelly) Fisher. 

Mr. Fisher was raised in Detroit’s Longfellow and Palmer Woods neighborhoods.  He attended Gesu Grade school and was a 1934 graduate of the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and a 1938 graduate of the University of Detroit College, majoring in English and Philosophy.  

Mr. Fisher began his working career with the Sears Roebuck & Company in 1938 as a management trainee and spent 36 years with the company.  During that time, Mr. Fisher worked as department manager, merchandise manager and general manager before his retirement from the company in 1975. 

Mr. Fisher is a World War II veteran and served in U.S. Army from 1942-1946. He attended basic training in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Washington D.C. and Denver, Colorado before his acceptance into Officer’s Candidate School in Homestead, Florida.  He served in the Army Air Forces in the Pacific Theater, Burma Operations, attaining the rank of Captain. Upon his discharge from the Army, Mr. Fisher returned to Detroit and continued his career with Sears.

Mr. Fisher met his beloved wife, Mary Beth Rudd, in 1947.  The couple met on a blind date and were introduced by Dan’s sister and Mary Beth’s Sacred Heart Academy Classmate, Mary Harrington, at a dinner party at the family’s home. They married at Gesu Church in Detroit on July 31, 1948. The couple made their home in Detroit, later moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan, Toledo and Marion, Ohio.

Upon his retirement in 1975, Mr. Fisher moved the family to their cottage on the shores of Burt Lake, Michigan where he resided for the rest of his life.  Mr. Fisher was a founding member and first president of the Indian River Kiwanis Club.  He served as president of the United Burt Lake Association and the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council conservation associations.  Dan and Mary Beth Fisher were active members of the Cross in the Woods Catholic parish for 41 years.  Mr. Fisher’s wife, Mary Beth, preceded him in death on July 19, 2011, after 63 years of marriage.

The son of former S.S. Kresge President, Daniel C. Fisher Sr., Mr. Fisher grew up in Detroit’s Palmer Woods neighborhood during the birth of the auto industry and the great industrialist era of 1920’s and 1930’s. Mr. Fisher had a keen memory and could often recount the years by which cars were being driven or introduced by some of the family’s neighbors, including inventors and auto industry pioneers Peter E. Martin, General William Knudsen, Alfred J. Fisher, William A. Fisher and K.T. Keller.  Mr. Fisher had tremendous respect for his parents and often spoke of their humble roots in St. Louis and Strathroy, Ontario before achieving success at the Kresege Company and building the family’s Palmer Woods home in 1927. 

His parent’s modest beginnings, hard work, and most importantly, their Catholic faith, helped shaped Mr. Fisher and his kind and positive outlook for his entire life.  Despite losing all of his brothers and sisters and his wife of 63 years, Mr. Fisher continued to remain gracious and positive in his late 90’s while undergoing numerous hospital stays.  He always spoke of how thankful he was and how the good Lord had always taken care of him and would take care of anyone who turned to him.  Mr. Fisher’s wry sense of humor and extremely positive outlook will be remembered as a source of inspiration for all who encountered him.  His tremendous faith and love for his wife and family sustained him for his entire life. 

Mr. Fisher is survived by his children, Mary Elizabeth (Gerald) Smith of Cincinnati, Ohio; Katherine Ann (James) Holcomb; of Shaker Heights, Ohio; Daniel C. (Nancy) Fisher III of Chattanooga, Tennessee; Barbara Jean Fisher (Henry) of Chevy Chase, Maryland; Michael Frances (Marcella) Fisher of St. Clair Shores, Michigan; Margaret Teresa (Michael) LaChapelle of Rochester, New York; Paul Steven (Amy) Fisher of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin; and Genevieve Eleanor (Steve) King of Petoskey Michigan; sisters-in-law Rosemary Fisher of Burt Lake and Jane Fisher of Columbus Ohio. Mr. Fisher is further survived by 17 grandchildren, 22 great grandchildren and 40 nieces and nephews.  Mr. Fisher was especially thankful for all of his caregivers, especially Cheryl, Katie, Becky, Margaret and Tabitha who helped him in his final months.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 12:00 Noon, Saturday, December 3, 2016 at Cross in the Woods Catholic Church in Indian River.   Interment will be held at the Shrine Cemetery in Indian River.  Visitation will be held at Cross in the Woods on Friday, December 2, 2016 from 5:00-7:00pm.  A prayer service will be held at 6:30pm Friday evening at the church.

Lintz Funeral Home in Indian River is serving the Fisher family.  Online condolences may be made at www.stonefuneralhominc.com  Memorial contributions are suggested to the Cross in the Woods Catholic Parish and Hospice on the Straits.

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