James (Jim) was born in Clinton, Iowa to James R. Fisher, Sr., and Dorothy C. Fisher on April 29, 1932. He graduated from Clinton High with honors in 1951. He married the love of his life, Betty A. Fisher on July 25, 1986, in Largo, Florida. He received his BA/BS in chemistry from the University of Iowa in 1956, an MA in social psychology from the University of South Florida in 1976, and a Ph.D. in organization-industrial psychology from Walden University in 1978. While in Iowa, he was a member of the honorary fraternities of Phi Eta Sigma (1951), Omicron Delta Kappa (1953), and Phi Beta Kappa (1956), and at USF the graduate honorary fraternity of Phi Kappa Phi (1975).
Jim worked as a chemist for Standard Brands and was a chemical engineer for Nalco Chemical Company rising to the rank of an associate vice president operating in South America, Europe, and South Africa. Upon his return to the U.S. in 1969 he wrote his first book, “Confident Selling” in 1971. In 1970 he entered graduate school at USF, leaving the physical sciences for the social sciences, requiring six years of study attending school year-round, and consulting on the side with the American Management Assoc. He did executive development seminars for public and private industry executives across the United States, as well as interventions for the Professional Institute of Police. He was also an adjunct professor at several universities in Florida. In 1980 he joined Honeywell Inc., Avionics Division in St. Petersburg, Florida as a management and organizational development psychologist and was promoted to Director of Human Resources for Honeywell Europe SA in Brussels, Belgium. He retired in 1990 to fulfill his real passion, writing. He has published 32 books and more than a thousand articles.
Jim was a veteran of the Korean War and served in the US Navy from 1956 to 1962, with two years of active duty on the Flagship of the Sixth Fleet, the USS Salem (CA-139) operating in the Mediterranean.
Jim loved sports and played baseball, football, basketball, and track in high school. He fenced in college. He avidly watched the Tampa Bay Rays, and most recently was enjoying golf tournaments.
James is preceded in death by his parents, his sister, Janice Ewing, and his daughter Jeanne Marie Fisher.
James is survived by his wife Betty Fisher, sons Robert J Fisher and Michael J Fisher, daughter Lauren A Carr, step-daughter Jenna Whittlef, step-son Christopher Whittlef, 13 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, and a sister Patricia A. Fisher Waddell.
Pallbearers will be Taylor Fisher, Keaton Fisher, Killian Fisher, Ryan Carr, Dylan Smith, and Rahmi Halk.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 22, 2023, at Corpus Christi Catholic Church 9715 N 56th St, Temple Terrace, FL 33617. A reception will take place at Blount & Curry from 12-2 p.m. following the service at Corpus Christi. Burial will be family only at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell Florida. Arrangements are by Blount & Curry Funeral Home, Terrace Oaks Chapel, 12690 N. 56th Street, Temple Terrace, FL 33617
The family of James R. Fisher, Jr. wishes to extend our sincere thanks to every person at Life Path Hospice caring for Jim, Dr. Carlos Silva, and his entire staff, and to all of the friends he met through life’s journey as he said, “I have learned so much from each and every one of them.”
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