Obituary for Robert G. "Bob" Fisher

Bob was born in West Suburban Hospital in Oak Park, Illinois, on October 22, 1939, to Frieda (Allington) and Arthur Glendon Fisher. He grew up in the Portage Park neighborhood of Chicago and graduated from Carl Schurz Public High School in June 1957. Bob received a B.S., in Forestry, from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and later a Master of Public Administration from Indiana University-Bloomington.

He worked for the Commonwealth of Kentucky as a Service Forester on private lands and for the Department of the Defense as a forester-agronomist on a large Naval Ammunition Facility in Indiana. Bob also worked for the Michigan Conservation Department as a Land Appraiser. He spent most of his professional career as a planner with the Mississippi River Regional Planning Commission in La Crosse, where he prepared harbor plans, bicycle trail plans, and land use plans for many local communities in a nine county area.

In his later years Bob operated Nature’s Way, a tree and shrub care consultancy and tackled the Emerald Ash Borer Epidemic of the early 21st Century by being the first arborist company in La Crosse to inject trees with the appropriate insecticide. He was an International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist.

In retirement, Bob served on many volunteer committees and boards, including the technical committees of the La Crosse Area Planning Committee and the Great River Road. He was active in various state and national organizations that supported expansion and improvement of railroad passenger service and related commuter connections.

Bob served four terms on the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Valley Conservancy and placed his Genoa farm property in a Conservancy Easement with that organization.

Bob served 21 years active duty and reserve service with the United States Navy and retired as a Lieutenant Commander.

Bob married Barbara Fetzer Smith in December of 1980 at Wesley United Methodist Church in La Crosse. She was literally, “the girl next door’ when they became East Avenue neighbors. He was the proud step-father to Barb’s two daughters, Amy and Kari; and eventually became a grandfather to Christopher, Lauren, Naomi, and Leah; and great-grandfather to Mykah, Zayne, Veda, and Kora.

A memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m., on Monday, March 6, 2023, at Fredrickson Funeral Home, Woodruff Chapel, La Crosse. Pastor Jason Derr will officiate. A visitation will be held from 12 noon until the time of service, Monday, at the funeral home.