Joseph R. Fisher

Joseph R. Fisher, Jr., 84, Moses Lake resident passed away Saturday, February 23, 2013 at his home. A Memorial Mass will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church. Viewing will be Friday, March 1, 2013 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Kayser's Chapel. Inurnment will follow the Mass at Our Lady of Fatima Columbarium. Please sign the online guestbook or leave a note for family at www.kayserschapel.com. Arrangements are in care of Kayser's Chapel & Crematory, Moses Lake.

Joseph Rosser Fisher, Jr. was born August 21, 1928 in the Purcell Maternity Home in Cut Bank, Montana, the only child of Joseph Rosser Fisher and Neyda Edris (Jacobson) Fisher. His father was a civil engineer (Bucknell University, Pennsylvania) and a Sgt. First Class in the Army Signal Corps, 612th Aero Squadron, Wilbur Wright Air Department and World War I Veteran. After his honorable discharge in March 1919, he drifted west to New Mexico, where he installed towers for high voltage transmission lines; then to Globe, Arizona where he worked in a mine and then north to Denver, Colorado and on to Great Falls, Montana (both places surveying for the US Bureau of Reclamation) before moving to Cut Bank, Montana where he started a wheat ranch and became the first elected Glacier County Engineer. He should best be remembered as the Cut Bank School District Board Member who was directly responsible for getting H.C. Davis to return to Cut Bank as a "proposed" school principal after departing to Wallace, Idaho because of Great Northern's closure of their Cut Bank roundhouse. Joe Jr. learned of this personally from Mr. Davis in 1996 at his 50th class reunion, which Mr. Davis attended.

His mother was an 18 year old high school graduate from Indiana who traveled west in 1919 to visit a favorite Aunt (cattle rancher) in the Sweet Grass Hills of Montana. At age 19, she started her teaching career in a one room school house (8 grades) in Whitlash (Sweet Grass Hills), Montana. Soon after, she got her teaching certificate from the Dillon Montana Normal School and accepted a teaching position in Cut Bank where she met and married Joe's father in 1923. J.R. (Joe), Jr. graduated from Cut Bank High School in 1946 and then attended the University of Colorado in Boulder where he graduated on June 10, 1950 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He briefly worked for Montana Power in Cut Bank as a gas field engineer prior to his enlisting in the Navy on Friday, April 13, 1951 (1300 hours) in Helena, Montana. In the Navy, he was an ET2 Electronic Technician and spent 2 years on a the USS Vammen DE-644 destroyer escort while serving 2 tours of harbor patrol at Wonsan, North Korea. He spent his last year aboard the USS Dixie AD-14 as destroyer tender stationed at Subic Bay, Philippines. After his honorable discharge on March 25, 1955, he joined the Atlas Missile "Team" of Convair Astronautics in San Diego, California as a Test Engineer "B" and was a Research Test Engineer when he transferred to Fairchild AFB in Spokane to accept the Assistant Chief Activation Engineering position during the installation of the 9 atlas missile silos. He was later promoted to Chief Engineer prior to his resignation in December 1960 to pursue a career in the petroleum wholesale business in Quincy and Moses Lake, Washington.

He married Allie Mae (Emerson) Appleby on March 9, 1972 in Moses Lake. Together they owned and operated Basin Oil Company (a Chevron Petroleum Bulk Plant) and 13 services stations (JR's Economarts, JR's Town Pump and Car Washes) until their retirement on December 22, 1999, which also happened to be Allie's 68th birthday.

Joe was a "plank owner" in the US Navy Memorial Foundation, a member of the Elks Lodge and a life time member of both the Moose Lodge and the American Legion. Joe said goodbye last weekend.

Allie's "acknowledgements" were inadvertently omitted from her obituary, so are herein briefly summarized. Prior to her marriage to Joe, she was a Cub Scout Den Mother, she was very active in the PTA and she assisted in the estimating & binding of jobs as well as keeping the books for the family business, Appleby Construction, a well known and respected general contractor. After her marriage to Joe, she initially drove school bus and assisted another contractor with his bookkeeping until Joe realized he needed her talent in their office. She gracefully volunteered to prepare and/ or oversee all the tax reporting and accounting procedures. Allie was an accomplished seamstress; she made her youngest daughter's wedding gown. Allie always hosted the Family Holiday Dinners on Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. She was very precise in the selection, preparation and serving of the food and everyone looked forward with anticipation to the next holiday dinner. She was best recognized as a Master candy maker of peanut brittle, fudge and divinity. Her success was due to her precision in the measuring, mixing, timing, temperature control and the joy of handing out peanut brittle to our family and friends. Had Basin Oil Co. diversified into the peanut brittle business, they would still be remembered! In addition, she was a very knowledgeable and ardent gardener and with the help of her daughter, Gina and their beloved friend, Nancy Queen, maintained 1000 square feet of flowers beds. They never had to buy flowers for family grave site on Memorial Day or any other special occasions.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph Rosser Sr. and Neyda Edris (Jacobson) Fisher; his best friend and loving wife of 34 years, Allie Mae; son Daniel English Fisher, grandson Moises Beliz; and great-grandson Chantz Beliz.

He is survived by 1 child from a previous marriage; an aunt (his father's half sister) and her daughter; 2 first cousins, their families and an "untold" number of other Jacobson relatives from his mother's side; 4 step-children; 11 grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren. His son from his first marriage to Kathryn English Savaloja: Jerome William and his wife Mary Fisher, Moses Lake, WA; aunt, Mary Gore and her daughter Joan Poth, both of Richland, MI; first cousins, Janice (Jacobson) Miller Cooper, Walnut Creek, CA (her mother, Erna, was one of 6 Jacobson girls) and Jill (Jacobson) Ross, Granger, IN (her father, Bud, was the only Jacobson boy); step-children; son, (Daniel) Aaron and wife Lily Appleby, Chester, SC, son Darrell and wife Fredene Appleby, Moses Lake, daughter Gina and husband Jerry Estrin, Moses Lake, anddaughter Lisa and husband Tom Schiffner, Kent, WA; grandchildren and great grandchildren, Rebecca and Jarrad Haight and their children Ellie and Ryan, John Rosser Fisher, Chadwick and Jennifer Appleby, Courtney (Appleby) and husband Brian Plaisted and their sons Skyler and Carter, Michael and wife Helen Pugh and their sons Nathan and Tanner, Eric Pugh and Jolene Duncan and their children Blake and Dora, Jennifer Pugh and daughters Jordyn, Jaydyn, Jocelynn and Jennah, Amy Beliz and her son Trae, Trissa (Schiffner) and husband Joel Chasko and their son Oliver, Jason and wife Megan Schiffner, and Michelle (Shiffner) Bibeau.

Joe always loved, respected, and remembered his family.

To My Dearest Allie Mae: Well "Alligator," we have finally reached our goal of "after while, Crocodile." When this obit hits the paper, we will have been reunited! God I have missed you, but this time there will be no separation. XOXO, Joe