Wallace Clyde Fisher, Sr. passed away March 19, 2019 at Providence St. Peter’s Hospital in Olympia, two weeks short of his 87th birthday.
Wally was born April 2, 1932 in Franklin County, Arkansas, to Wiley Arthup and Margaret Elizabeth (Robertson) Fisher, the youngest of their 12 children. He was graduated from Pleasant View High School in 1950 and entered the U.S. Army, serving overseas with occupation forces in Germany.
He married Carolyn Shirley Smith on January 1, 1952 in Olympia, and the couple raised three sons there. He began working at the Olympia Post Office in 1955 as a reserve mail carrier and was with the U.S. Postal Service for 32 years, retiring in 1987 after a three-year term as Postmaster of Buckley, Wa. Following his retirement he was an active volunteer for more than 30 years at the Salvation Army and at the Olympia Amtrak station. He also served on the Olympia School Board as both board member and President, and was a member of the Olympia Credit Union Board of Directors.
From the late 1950s through the 1960s, he played softball and basketball in Olympia city leagues.
Wally’s career as a sports official was longer than his tenure with the USPS. From 1978 through 2012, he officiated baseball, basketball, and football at the high school, middle school, and youth sports levels, earning several ‘Iron Man’ awards for most baseball games umpired that season for the South Sound Umpire’s Association, the final such award coming when he was in his 80s. He also umpired adult competitive and recreational league softball with the American Softball Association (ASA) and the United States Slowpitch Softball Association (USSSA) for many years.
He was predeceased by his infant daughter Merry Carol, his parents, and his eleven brothers and sisters.
He is survived by Carolyn, his wife of 67 years at the family home in Olympia; sons, Wally Fisher II (Teresa) of Olympia, Bryan Fisher (Jodi) of Ranson, WV; and Dan Fisher, of Chehalis; grandchildren Joshua (Sarah), Derick, and Kellie Fisher, great-grandchildren Caitlyn and Joshua Fisher, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.
He will be remembered by his family as a wise and caring husband and father who provided loving guidance to his children and descendants for more than 60 years.
Funeral services will be held at 1pm on Monday, March 25, at Mills and Mills funeral chapel, 5725 Littlerock Rd SW, with interment to follow at Mills and Mills Memorial Park. A Celebration of Life will follow at the Salvation Army Church, 1505 4th Ave E, Olympia, from 3pm until 6pm. All friends and family are cordially invited to attend.
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