John Francis Fischer

John Francis Fischer passed away in his Oceanside home on Saturday February 22, 2020, after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. He was 92. He told us on his last birthday that he didn't mind birthdays as long as they were other people's.

John was born on January 5, 1928 in Augusta, Kansas, the third of the five children of Gertrude Moriarty Fischer and Herman Fischer. Gertrude worked as a telephone operator before meeting Herman. Herman was a barber who had served in the U.S. Navy from 1901-1906, including as a gunner during the time of the Boxer Rebellion in China.

John was eight years old when his father died of a heart attack. Gertrude's brother Francis "Bud" Moriarty, then a newlywed, moved into Gertrude's home with his new bride to help her out. Bud became a very important to John.

John joined the Navy during World War II when he was 17. He served aboard the USS Culebra Island (ARG-7). He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Materials Science from Kansas State. He was a loyal and grateful alumnus throughout his life.

While working at Boeing in Wichita during college, he met Velda Kuntz Coysh, a widow. In April, 1951 he married Velda and adopted her young daughter, Tonya. He was offered a job at Hughes Tool Company in Houston, Texas, and the family moved there from Kansas. Velda and John's next three children were all born in Houston: Jan, Sandra, and John Gregory.

The family moved to California in January 1960 when John took a job with Smith Tool Company as Chief Metallurgist. They found a home in Garden Grove.

In August 1965, Velda died of cancer.

In January 1967 he married Antonia "Toni" Adamo, and the family moved to Los Alamitos, California.

John rose in the corporate ranks, helping Smith to grow and obtaining several patents along the way. He especially loved starting a separate plant to make drill bit inserts out of tungsten carbide for the company. As part of his work with tungsten carbide, he was among the first Americans to visit China after the "Ping-Pong Diplomacy" of 1971. He was named Vice President of Engineering at Smith and later Vice President of Special Projects. However, he longed to have his own company, and left Smith amicably to do so.

The Fischers started Progressive Carbide in Cypress, California in 1979. The company was a success. They sold the company and retired in 1988.

In the mid-1980s the Fischers bought a house with an avocado grove in Fallbrook, on Sleeping Indian Road. They bought other homes in Lake Arrowhead and on Maui. Eventually they sold these properties and moved to their final home in Oceanside in the 1990s.

John worked on a number of community projects and spearheaded a number of activities to make the roads of Morro Hills litter-free and safer. He served as the president of the South Morro Hills Association and on the waste commission for the City of Oceanside. He and Toni travelled extensively and led an active social life. He was a lifelong Catholic.

Even as he lived with Alzheimer's, he continued to show courage and grace, his love of children, his joy in his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and a love of making others laugh. His devotion to Toni was unwavering.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife Velda; his siblings Marjorie Flynn, Edward Fischer, and Elizabeth Markley; and his grandson William Pearsley. He is survived by his wife of fifty-three years, Antonia; his children Tonya Pearsley, Jan Burke (Timothy), Sandra Cvar, and John Fischer (Veronica); grandchildren John Pearsley, Jr, Timbrely Pearsley, Steven Cvar, Shaun Cvar, Heather Cvar, Shawna Haggerty (Denny), and Sheldon Fischer; great-grandchildren Lexy, Liam, Grey, Ethan, Taten, and Dean; and many loving nieces and nephews.

John's sense of humor, his intelligence, his generosity, his devotion to his family, and kind heart are all part of why we loved him. He loved children. He loved animals, and over the years adopted many dogs. He was always willing to try to solve any problem that confronted him and loved working out a challenge or a puzzle. His children firmly believed he could fix anything, and he proved this faith well-founded many times. He was a gentleman and believed in honest dealing in business and in his community.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of the North Coast, the San Diego Humane Society, or Alzheimer's San Diego.

Services are private. Under the direction of Eternal Hills.