Richard Fischer Obituary

Richard Owen Fischer, 102, was born in Valentine, Nebraska, on Nov. 6, 1913, and died on March 13, 2016, in Colorado Springs. His parents were Frank Fischer, a hardware merchant and county judge, and Anna (Stetter) Fischer, an artist and mother of four.

Dick earned a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Nebraska, where he lettered in track and football. He later earned a master's degree at the University of Iowa.

He taught math and coached sports at Red Cloud and Neligh, Nebraska. It was at Neligh High that he met his future wife, June Graybiel, the school secretary.

During World War II, Dick served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in New Guinea and the Southern Philippines. He and June married on Jan. 17, 1946, in Westwood Village, California.

Dick soon resumed his job at Neligh High. In 1951, he joined the U.S. Air Force Reserve to teach ROTC at Iowa State University. He advised the South Korean Air Force for a year. When he returned in 1957, he was assigned to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.

Six years later the family moved to the U.S. Air Force Academy. Dick left active duty as a lieutenant colonel in 1966. He continued to work at the Academy as a civil servant until he retired.

Dick and June loved music and dancing. They played bridge and dedicated hours to their lawn and garden. Dick liked to play golf and was a fitness enthusiast. His neighbors remember him walking "the loop" in their neigborhood daily, well into his 90s. He had a passion for the Cornhuskers, Ford Mustangs and the stock market. Above all Dick was devoted to his family.

Dick is survived by his wife, June; son Richard S. (Steve) Fischer and daughter-in-law Nancy Fischer of Broomfield, Colo.; daughter Kathleen Rutledge and son-in-law Ted Kooser of Garland, Neb.; daughter Julene (Julie) Fischer and son-in-law Michael J. Ward of Brooklyn, N.Y.; daughter Janet (Jan) Demolli and son-in-law Duane Demolli of Colorado Springs; grandsons Daniel Fischer, Jackson Fischer-Ward, Scott and Luke Demolli; step-grandson Jeff Kooser; step great-granddaughters Margaret and Penelope Kooser; niece Marjorie Anne Dozier; nephews Bill and Dick Boyer and Bill Rose.

The Rev. John Goodale will celebrate a memorial service at 2 p.m. Friday in the Cathedral Room, fourth floor, First Presbyterian Church. A funeral service will be held on April 2 at St. John's Episcopal Church in Valentine. Burial will be at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Valentine.

The family requests no flowers. Memorials: Richard O. Fischer Scholarship Fund at the University of Nebraska Foundation.

The family is grateful to Home Instead caregivers who helped Dick remain in the home he loved so much.