John H. Fisher

Passed away July 3, 2012, at home with his family by his side.

Born April 5, 1924, to William and Adelaide (Oster) Fisher, in New Plymouth, Idaho.

John was a lifelong member of The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, confirmed in 1938, and served the church in many and various capacities throughout his lifetime.

He graduated from New Plymouth High School in 1942, and worked with his dad in his apple orchard until 1943, when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. His basic training was in Texas, and after a short visit at home, he was sent to California, then to Fort Lawton in Washington state. From there, he boarded a ship to Hawaii, then on to Okinawa, Japan. He landed in Okinawa the first of April, 1945. On May 27, 1945, he was wounded while in line to receive the first meal available to the men for a couple of days. A bullet passed through the man in front of him and ended up in John's chest, dangerously close to his heart. It took all day for him to be carried out and get to a hospital because of deep mud. About five days later, he was flown to the Guam Naval Station, then air-lifted a week later to Hawaii by way of Johnson Island. His recovery in Hawaii took from June to December. John remembers being greeted after surgery by the doctor, who said "this is the man we just about lost." In December, he boarded a transport ship back to the United States and a camp in California, then back to Washington state, where he served the remainder of his duty - about 11 months. John always knew that the Lord protected him through all of his months of military service - he held him in the palm of his hand.

He was discharged on July 16, 1946, and went back to Idaho. He found employment with the Idaho State Highway Department until 1948, when he re-enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. He intended to make the Air Force his career, but those plans did not materialize, so after his honorable discharge, he came back to Idaho to work with his dad once again.

In 1951, he began farming his own property adjacent to his dad's. About the same time, he met Phyllis Ann Breitling, and they were married at Immanuel Lutheran Church in New Plymouth on Nov. 18, 1951. In addition to the farm, John worked at the Payette Valley Co-op in New Plymouth from 1955 until 1975, performing many different duties during those 20 years. These included driving the delivery truck, pumping gas, mechanic, pipe-line milk machine installation and repair, and running the fertilizer plant - and Phyllis became an expert at milking cows and other farm labor while John worked outside of the farm.

In 1976, John and Phyllis and their two youngest sons moved to Lewiston. John found employment at Erb Hardware and retired about 10 years later. After retirement, he worked for a few years as the church custodian at Trinity Lutheran Church, volunteered with the Disabled American Veterans, the Lewiston Food Bank, grew a huge garden with Phyllis, and had a woodworking hobby. All of these among many other things that always kept him busy.

John and Phyllis had five children - all born in the Ontario, Ore., hospital and raised in New Plymouth, with the exception of their youngest son, Todd, who was raised in Lewiston - Brenda (Stan) Brittain of Moses Lake, Wash., Vernon G. or Bud (Carolyn) of Weiser, Idaho, Gary (Diana) of Anchorage, Alaska, Jeff (Charlotte) of Lewiston, and Todd of Lewiston. They were also blessed with five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

John is survived by his wife, Phyllis, their children and spouses, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Bill and Addie (Addie passed away when John was a young boy); his brother, George, who was lost in 1944 in the USS Chicago in Guadalcanal; and his three sisters, Esther, Dorothy and Eleanor. His precious granddaughter, Jenna, also passed away in 2004 at 1 month old.

A celebration of John's life will be conducted at 10 a.m. Saturday at Trinity Lutheran Church, 920 Eighth Ave., Lewiston, with interment at Lewis-Clark Memorial Gardens. Mountain View Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Trinity Lutheran Church, Honor Flights for World War II Veterans, The Lutheran Hour or the Lewis-Clark Animal Shelter.

"A good man leaves the world a better place, for a better place."