PAGE A8, KEIZERTIMES, APRIL 23, 2021
obituary
Jim 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 settling 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 fi ve summers for the USDA Forest
Service in fi re control and recreation at
Lake of the Woods. One summer there, Jim
met his future wife, Dorene Ann Cantrall.
Just 10 weeks later, on September 16, 1954,
they eloped to Reno, Nev., 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 fi re control and forestry
assistance 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 offi cer,
personnel assistant, training director, and
fi ve years as personnel director. In 1972,
he became public aff airs director where
he helped guide the department through
the environmental issues of that time
including the impact of wildfi res on homes
in forested areas.
He also served in a part-time
capacity as an instructor in supervision
and communications at Chemeketa
Community College for 10 years, and
as an adjunct professor for the Oregon
State University Department of Technical
JIM FISHER
Journalism for 10 years.
From 1962 to 1990, the Fishers lived in
Keizer with their four active children. Jim
served as president of the PTA at Kennedy
Elementary School and served on the Local
School Advisory Council at both Whiteaker
and McNary. There was rarely a prom,
homecoming dance, or special event that
Jim and his wife didn’t attend or chaperone,
including the 1975 McNary Highlanders
trip to Hawaii . He also served on the board
of directors for the Salem-Keizer Babe Ruth
program for several 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 relations manager
for his daughter’s public relations/
advertising fi rm 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
Pacifi c Crest Trail) in just 28 days from
the Columbia River Gorge to southern
Oregon’s Lake of the Woods.
Jim and Dorene founded what became
the “by invitation only” Sisters Reride
Association in the late 1970s to welcome
their children and school friends to a
gathering 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
children of the original Reriders and they
became a fi xture in the gold section at the
Sisters Rodeo. The group participated in
the Sisters Rodeo Parade and beginning
in 1993 became part of the Oregon
Department of Transportation’s Adopt-
a-Highway program, picking up litter on
a portion of the McKenzie Pass Highway
near milepost 76.
Jim’s 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 Center’s Education
Committee. He served on the board of
directors of the Oregon State University
Dads Club and was President during the
club’s 50th anniversary.
He was named to the Pacifi c Crest Trail
Advisory Council to the U.S. Secretary of
Agriculture (1978-1989), then served on
the Pacifi c 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 organization’s executive
committee. In recent years, he was
secretary and trustee for the Board of
Trustees for Tillamook Heritage Forest
Center, founding member and president
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 prestigious Bronze
Smokey Bear Award from the USDA Forest
Service, National Association of State
Foresters, and The Advertising Council for
his service in wildfi re prevention.
A prolifi c writer, Jim was the author of
several corporate histories, a centennial
history of the Oregon Department of
Forestry, a history of Oregon State
University’s Department of Microbiology,
numerous magazine articles, and hundreds
of newspaper articles on history, people
and places.
In addition to his wife, Dorene of Sisters,
Jim is survived by his children: Jeff Fisher
(Ed Cunningham) of Portland; Sue Fisher
(Addison Jones) of Redmond; Dave Fisher
(Tasha) of Keizer; and Jerry Fisher (Gina) of
Canby. He also survived by grandchildren
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 Jim’s name
may be made to Hospice of Redmond
(hospiceofredmond.org); the Tillamook
Forest Heritage Trust (tillamooktrust.
org), or to Keep Oregon Green
(keeporegongreen.org). No services are
planned at this time.
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