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Wednesday, April 21, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Obituaries
James “Jim” Gordon Fisher
February 20, 1935 — April 14, 2021
James <Jim= Gordon
Fisher, 86, died April 14,
2021 in Redmond after a
lengthy illness.
He was born February 20,
1935 in Sac City, Iowa, the
second of three children born
to Ronald Gardner Fisher
and Vivian Onita (Michael)
Fisher.
In 1941, the family moved
to Oregon, living in Portland
for the summer and then set-
tling in Klamath Falls. There,
he attended grade school and
high school, graduating from
Klamath Union High School
in 1952. Beginning at the
age of 16 and continuing
through college, he worked
five summers for the USDA
Forest Service in fire control
and recreation at Lake of the
Woods. One summer there,
Jim met his future wife,
Dorene Ann Cantrall. Just ten
weeks later, on September
16, 1954, they eloped to
Reno, Nevada, beginning
their 66-year marriage.
In 1956, after graduating
from Oregon State University
with a major in forestry and
a minor in journalism, Jim
began a combined 34-year
career with the Oregon
Department of Forestry. For
four years, he worked in fire
control and forestry assis-
tance in Medford. He stepped
away from the department to
serve one year as associate
editor at the Oregon Forest
Research Center in Corvallis.
Jim returned to the
Oregon Department of
Forestry in 1961, where he
held several positions over
the years: safety officer,
personnel assistant, training
director, and five years as
personnel director. In 1972
he became public affairs
director, where he helped
guide the department through
the environmental issues
of that time including the
impact of wildfires on homes
in forested areas.
He also served in a part-
time capacity as an instruc-
tor in supervision and com-
munications at Chemeketa
Community College for 10
years, and as an adjunct pro-
fessor for the Oregon State
University Department of
Technical Journalism for 10
years.
He retired in 1990 and he
and his wife moved to their
second home near Sisters.
Retirement did not last
long for Jim. He served as
executive director of the
Sisters Area Chamber of
Commerce from 1991 to
1996 and was a public rela-
tions manager for his daugh-
ter9s public relations/adver-
tising firm for 10 years.
Additionally, Jim was a long-
time writer for The Nugget
Newspaper in Sisters. He
devoted much of his free
time to writing, RV travel,
and enjoying his extensive
library of books.
From the age of 15, he
was an active hiker. In 1967,
Jim, his wife, and their four
young children ages 6, 8, 10,
and 11 hiked 366 miles of the
Skyline Trail (now Pacific
Crest Trail) in just 28 days
from the Columbia River
Gorge to southern Oregon9s
Lake of the Woods.
Jim and Dorene founded
what became the <by invi-
tation only= Sisters Reride
Association in the late 1970s
to welcome their children
and school friends to a gath-
ering at the family home
during rodeo weekend in
Sisters. Over the next 30
years, the <Reriders= grew
to more than 40 members,
including spouses and chil-
dren of the original Reriders
and they became a fixture
in the gold section at the
Sisters Rodeo. The group
participated in the Sisters
Rodeo Parade and begin-
ning in 1993 became part
of the Oregon Department
of Transportation9s Adopt-a-
Highway program, picking
up litter on a portion of the
McKenzie Pass Highway
near milepost 76.
Jim9s volunteer activities
included serving as board
member and vice president of
the Oregon State Employees
Association, Chairman of
the OSEA Services Board
of Directors, Chairman of
the Marion County Parks
and Recreation Advisory
Commission, and chair of
the World Forestry Center9s
Education Committee. He
served on the board of direc-
tors of the Oregon State
University Dads Club and
was President during the
club9s 50th anniversary.
He was named to the
Pacific Crest Trail Advisory
Council to the U.S. Secretary
of Agriculture (1978-1989),
then served on the Pacific
Crest Trail Association board
of directors (1991-1994) as a
member, secretary, and vice
chair.
Jim proposed the
establishment of the
Oregon Forestry Retirees
Association in 1983 and
later served as President and
member of that organiza-
tion9s executive committee.
In recent years, he was secre-
tary and trustee for the Board
of Trustees for Tillamook
Heritage Forest Center,
founding member and presi-
dent of the Oregon State Fair
Foundation, and a member
of the Forest History Center
board of directors.
In Central Oregon, he
was chair of the Crossroads
Property Owners Association
board of directors, chair of
the Sisters High Mountains
Dixieland Jazz, member
of the Deschutes County
Historical Landmarks
Commission, and a member
of the St. Charles Medical
Center Foundation board
of directors. He also taught
communications at Central
Oregon Community College
for one year.
In 1965, the Oregon
Jaycees named him
Outstanding Public
Employee of the Year. In
1991, he received the presti-
gious Bronze Smokey Bear
Award from the USDA Forest
Service, National Association
of State Foresters, and
The Advertising Council
for his service in wildfire
prevention.
A prolific writer, Jim
was the author of several
corporate histories, a centen-
nial history of the Oregon
Department of Forestry,
a history of Oregon State
University9s Department
of Microbiology, numer-
ous magazine articles, and
hundreds of newspaper arti-
cles on history, people, and
places.
In addition to his wife,
Dorene, of Sisters, Jim
is survived by his chil-
dren: Jeff Fisher (Ed
Cunningham) of Portland;
Sue Fisher (Addison Jones)
of Redmond; Dave Fisher
(Tasha) of Keizer; and Jerry
Fisher (Gina) of Canby. He
is also survived by grandchil-
dren Matt Fisher, Kim Fisher,
and Tessa Fisher, and Keenen
Dabney. In addition to his
parents, he was predeceased
by his brother, Robert, and
his sister, Patricia.
Charitable donations in
Jim9s name may be made to
Hospice of Redmond (www.
hospiceofredmond.org); the
Tillamook Forest Heritage
Trust (www.tillamooktrust.
org), or to Keep Oregon
Green (https://keeporegon
green.org ). No services are
planned at this time.
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