IN MEMORIAM, GENE FISHER
When Timber Valley RV Park’s flag dipped in honor of Gene Fisher’s passing on March 2, 2021, it signified the loss of an important, vital member of our community. Gene was an integral part of many committees, Board Member, Board President; he was always ready to help. He was known for his diplomacy and being unruffled in any crises. His granddaughter, Chrystal said, “When you’ve spent your life running into burning buildings a committee meeting was small potatoes”.
A friend from the Board said, “When Gene was in the room you knew there was at least one adult present.” As a board member he was a mentor to several and helped instruct the “boot camp” for new board members. He was known for his “$5 words” and was quoted as saying, “Never say six words when forty two will do.” His granddaughter said he always won at Scrabble with “big words”.
Gene was born Feb. 17, 1941 and he and Jane were married for 62 years. They enjoyed RVing and seeing family and friends all around the United States. Gene was a Fire Chief in Ketchikan, Alaska and here in Sutherlin. He was a training officer for the area and some of Sutherlin’s current volunteers remember him as that. Gene and Jane moved into Timber Valley Feb. 14, 2013.
Gene is survived by his wife, Rhoda (Jane) and 2 daughters, 7 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. The family requests that if you wish to honor his memory you can make donations to the Sutherlin Food Pantry in his name.
This statement so exemplifies Gene…”I trample on impossibilities.” This quote was taken from Gene’s yearbook under his senior picture.
He always knew we were in for a long meeting when he stood up to give a report. He was very thorough in his explanations. He will certainly be missed.
Gene’s passing leaves a huge hole in the fabric of Timber Valley’s community.
Gene always made a joke by coming to Friday social hour without his name tag. We had to get a funny name ready for him in advance.
I thank whoever authored this well-written, thoughtful and touching memoriam to Gene. He was truly a great guy, a great person to work with (and for), and always brought rationality to every meeting or discussion. His knowledge of Roberts Rules of Order was amazing and he must have been an honorary member of the Dale Carnegie institute, based on how rationally and well he dealt with people. We will truly miss his leadership abilities in the future.
Rick, the author is Jackie Deal. I agree, she’s a pro. And Gene will certainly be missed.
You will never know how much I will miss Gene and our front porch discussions. We may not have always agreed on how to go about accomplishing a project, but we always agreed the project was needed and found a way to accomplish it. His ability with budget matters always astounded me. I always admired his common sense approach to projects and his past experience to most projects.
He will be missed.