David Robertson Fisher Jr.

Dave was born in Buffalo, N.Y. On a snowy December night in 1937, just several hours after another luminary, Jane Fonda, first met her parents in California. His parents were David Fisher, of Dundee, Scotland and Verona Atkinson, of Louisville, KY. Dave graduated from Buffalo Kensington high school, followed by an education degree from the University of Buffalo. He subsequently secured graduate degrees from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (1962) and Michigan State University (1971). In 1961, Dave met, courted, and married Sylvia Bonney, of Manchester, England, a marriage of 55 years, ending with Sylvia’s passing in May of 2017. They raised, and Dave is survived by, three sons: Mark, Michael (Janet), and Christopher, as well as two grandsons (Ryan and Zachary). He is also survived by his brother Don, who is ten years younger.

After being ordained, Dave spent four years as a pastor with the United Church Of Christ. Critical analysis, begun in seminary, of the Bible and theology led to a plan to choose a career other than the ministry. Thus, his primary career years were spent as a School Psychologist, beginning in 1966 and retiring from Livingston County in June of 1999. His family had several different homes over the years in the greater Lansing area. Dave and Sylvia lived in Florida for fifteen years post-retirement, returning to East Lansing full time in 2016. Sylvia’s health problems had intensified, with her passing in 2017 due to Amyloidosis.

As a now widowed retired person, Dave spent many hours in “remembering” activities, such as creating photo albums of life highlights for the sons and grandsons. He also joined an East Lansing retirement group, learned to play Pickleball and got involved in discussion groups.

Meeting a lot of new folks led, one day, to a lunch in late June of 2018 with Becky, a retired educator, also active in East Lansing Senior activities. Dave and Becky found they had many interests in common, including travel, films, tv mysteries, and more. Not long after their initial meeting their relationship matured into one of committed companions. They were each so grateful for knowing and having each other in their lives.

Through the years Dave had many friends and colleagues and is thankful for their caring and kindness.

He maintained his interest in Biblical text analysis as well as the history and present status of Christianity. He has copious research notes that he had hoped to someday put into book format. The themes or titles include:

• “The Psychopathology of Fundamentalism”

• “The Worry and Threat Posed By White Christian Nationalism”

• “Priests and Power: The World’s Oldest Con Game”

Dave is hopeful that you will remember him as someone who was thoughtful, kind, caring, sometimes funny. He had a good, pretty long time on this earthly stage, experiencing wonderful, loving family and friends. Thank you, all. May you, too, live long and prosper.

To respect David's wishes, there will be no services. David will be laid to rest with his wife Syliva.