Mary Kathryn Fischer

Mary Fischer, age 82, of Tarpon Springs passed away peacefully on Monday, December 21, 2020. She was born to Edward and Carla Hinker on March 14, 1938 in Mitchell, South Dakota and grew up in Huron, South Dakota. She married her best friend and love of her life, Del Fischer, who preceded her in death in 2017. The two had a chance encounter in a hospital waiting room following injuries each incurred while on a ski trip. They quickly became inseparable and were married for 55 years. They moved to Florida in 1971 where they raised their three children and lived out the rest of their days.

A sports enthusiast, Mary was well known for her innate athletic talents. Throughout her childhood, she loved to play sports and would join her brother’s pickup games of baseball, flag football, basketball, and swim racing. She would seek out any opportunity to compete and was often the first player chosen for teams. Her competitive nature and inability to turn down a dare produced many stories that have been told and retold over the years. Her family’s favorites include tales of Mary scaling water towers, racing the high school quarterback (and beating him!) and alley-oops over the top of swing sets. On one occasion, she miscalculated while swinging and fell from quite high knocking the wind out of herself and scaring all who witnessed into thinking she surely killed herself. Fortunately, she survived to tell the tale and had a great story to explain her two broken arms. To Mary her feats were nothing out of the ordinary. In the eyes of her children and grandchildren, they were legendary.

Mary’s love of sports continued throughout her life. She enjoyed going to football and hockey games, and watching NASCAR races. An active participant, you could always hear her cheering loudly from the stands.

Equal to her love of sports was a love of music. Mary was drawn to any activity that involved music, from playing the saxophone in childhood to participating in the hand bell choir in church, to singing in choirs. She always sought out opportunities to incorporate music into her life and she was known to sing along to whatever music was playing. Mary incorporated this lifelong love of music into her church activities, and was a choir member at St. Jerome’s and then St. Ignatius. Mary was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2011. Even as the disease continued to take its toll on her memory, she stayed active in the choir as long as she could and would light up when she heard the music.

An active mother, Mary was very proud of her three children and was engaged in all their activities throughout their childhood and into adulthood. She adored her grandchildren and always looked forward to seeing them and attending their activities. She loved to laugh and always found a way to bring joy to others. She had a great sense of humor and would laugh at anyone’s jokes.

Mary was a caregiver by nature. She graduated from Huron College with a nursing degree and worked in the medical field throughout her life. When she moved into assisted living, her caregiving nature become immediately apparent to all who came into contact with her. She was known for the way she took care of other residents. She always wanted to make sure their needs were met.

Mary left a lasting impression on everyone she met and will be fondly remembered.

Mary is survived by her brothers Brad and Jay Hinker, her sons Doug (Tammy) Fischer and Steve (Debbie) Fischer, daughter Barbara Fischer, her 6 grandchildren Colbey, Cayden, Cassidy, Athan, Marcus and Thaddeus, as well as many nieces and nephews.

A virtual funeral will be held on Wednesday, December 30, 2020 at 2:00 PM EST. The service may be viewed at centralbaymarket.com. The service password is Mary1230. The virtual room will open 15 minutes prior to the scheduled service start time. Please note that the start of the live webcast will begin when the actual service begins.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or the Suncoast Hospice Foundation.

The service may be viewed at centralbaymarket.com. The service password is Mary1230. The virtual room will open 15 minutes prior to the scheduled service start time. Please note that the start of the live webcast will begin when the actual service begins.