Valeria (Val) Verna (Luehmann) Fischer passed away peacefully on Thursday April 13th, 2023 at age 95. She leaves to mourn her and celebrate her life three children and their spouses, Gerald Fischer (Janet Allen), Robert Fischer Jr. (Janice Brown), Susan (Donald) Arsenych, daughter-in-law Mori Fischer, six grandchildren and their spouses, Patrick Fischer (Lillian Cheng), Tasha (Victor) Ravinowich, Max Fischer, Anna (Jason) Andrews, Genevieve (Dan) Beccaria, John Fischer, five great grandchildren, Margaret Ravinowich, Chandler and Lincoln Andrews, Reese and Pierce Fischer, many dear nieces and nephews, extended family and friends. Val joins her husband Bob, son David Fischer, grandson Robert Fischer III, her parents, brother and two sisters, in heaven.
Val was born September 1, 1927, in South Branch, Minnesota, to John and Ida Luehmann. She attended St. John’s Church and Lutheran School in South Branch, where she was also baptized and confirmed. Her father and sister were the teachers in the two-room schoolhouse for grades 1-8. Her class was the first grade to be confirmed in English instead of German. Music was a very big part of her life. Her father taught her to play the piano and organ. She attended public high school in St. James, Minnesota, and then attended Concordia Teachers College, Seward, Nebraska, where she met Robert W. Fischer. After two years of college, she taught school in Waconia, MN, and played the church carillon bells on Saturday evening, accompanied the church choir & soloists, and organized the Christmas program.
Val and Bob were married June 27, 1948, in Luverne, Iowa where her parents were living. Bob accepted a call to teach at First Lutheran School in Little Rock, Arkansas, and then in 1951 at Concordia Lutheran School in Frohna, Missouri. Val was the church organist there, playing for both German and English services. They moved to Denver, Colorado in 1953.
Val was dedicated to raising her children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. She taught them all to play the piano and took them to lessons to learn other instruments. When the kids got a little older, she substitute taught at Emmaus Lutheran School and also substituted for the church organist. Her hobbies were sewing and embroidery, which she learned from her mom, and passed on to her children and grandchildren, along with her considerable skills in cooking and baking.
When the kids were grown and going out on their own, she was an Avon Lady, and then went to work part time at Janet Lee Shops as a buyer and bookkeeper and filled in for managers at multiple locations in Denver. She also volunteered in the Emmaus church office.
After Bob’s retirement they took a few international trips to research their family ancestry. Her ability to speak the German language was most helpful. She compiled handwritten genealogy books for her children. They also enjoyed many trips driving all around the United States to visit family.
Later in life she resided at The Argyle where she enjoyed playing hymns on their piano after meals and filled in for the Gospel Hour organist. Upon needing more assistance, she relocated to The Gardens On Quail and then to Sandalwood Manor, causing her to give up her piano playing. But in the evenings, she continued to enjoy using her Alexa to listen to church music from Concordia Publishing House and listen to the Bethlehem Lutheran church service broadcast on Sundays. And her favorite daily task was communicating with family and friends via email on her PC up to age 95!
Even after more than 70 years of living in big cities, she always appreciated her upbringing in rural Minnesota. Life was simpler, people treated each other with respect, death was a part of life, and God was the center of it all.
From one of Val’s favorite German hymns:
Let my near and dear ones be
Always near and dear to Thee;
Oh, bring me and all I love
To Thy happy home above.
Memorial Service details to come.
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