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James McFarland Fisher
• 1932 - 2008
 James
McFarland Fisher, who followed his father in the operation of
a Minot automobile dealership bearing the Fisher name, died Tuesday,
Dec. 30, 2008, at a health care facility in Scottsdale, Arizona,
where he had been living for the last ten years. He had been
suffering from Parkinson's disease, diabetes, and dementia. He
was 76.
Jim and his brother Gerald Fisher both went to work as partners
with their father at Fisher Motors, Inc., in the 1950s. H. H.
Fisher had assumed ownership of the dealership in 1927. Gerald
later left the company, and Jim continued as owner until his
retirement in 1998.
Jim was born April 9, 1932, in Minot, a son of H. H. and Pauline
(McFarland) Fisher. Raised in Minot, he graduated from Minot
High School in 1950, the salutatorian of his class. He attended
Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., for two years, transferring
to Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. Following his graduation
from there in 1954 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in political
science, he enlisted in the Army. He served from 1954 to 1956,
and was stationed at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland
with a unit doing guided missile research.
Following his discharge, he returned to Minot and went to work
at Fisher Motors. He grew in the business, from sales manager
to general manager and owner. At the same time, he became active
in the Minot community, his record reflecting a total commitment
to the area in which he lived. He was a member of the Elks and
Masonic lodges, the Shrine, and the Minot Y's Men and Curling
clubs. As an avid sportsman, he also was involved with the Retriever
and Gun clubs in Minot and in Nodak Racing. He was a member of
All Saints Episcopal Church and the Minot Country Club.
He was a leader in the establishment of cable television in Minot,
and served a term as president of Cable TV of Minot. He was a
director and past president of the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce.
He served three years as a commissioner on the Minot Housing
Authority. He had a prominent role in the early years of economic
development in Minot, serving as a director and secretary of
the Minot Industrial Development Corporation, the forerunner
of the Minot Area Development Corporation.
As an auto dealer, he was a member of the Minneapolis zone of
the Buick and Cadillac dealer councils. He served a term as the
national representative to the Cadillac council. In 1980, Time
magazine honored him with its Quality Dealer Award.
He was a contributor to and supporter of Minot State University
where his grandfather, George H. McFarland, once was president.
For three years in the early 1980s, Fisher Motors was host to
an event called the Fisher Good Life Holiday Extravaganza. It
was staged at the dealership as a fund-raising benefit for the
Minot Symphony Orchestra, a university-community organization.
On Aug. 1, 1985, he married Mary Cuddy Probst, who described
him as the light of her life. They lived in Minot and in Scottsdale
before moving permanently to the Arizona community where they
shared an interest in hiking, backpacking, golf and other social
activities. For some years, he and Mary also have maintained
a summer residence at Detroit Lakes, Minn. He had a late interest
in sculpture and pursued it as a serious hobby that resulted
in commissioned works for friends.
He is survived by his wife Mary; three sons by a previous marriage,
Brock and his wife Linda, San Diego, Jordan, of Nashville, and
Kyle and his wife Janet, Kenwood, Calif.; stepchildren, Mary
Ann Probst, Bismarck, Joseph Probst, Minneapolis, and Paul Probst,
Minot; five grandchildren, Beau, Shannon, Hope, Elsie, and Jessica;
brother, Gerald Fisher, Minot, and a number of nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Jill Fisher.
Funeral services: Funeral Friday, Jan. 2, 2009, at 10
a.m. at Messinger's Funeral Home in Pinnacle Peak, Ariz., with
a reception to follow at the Troon Country Club.
Memorial service and interment at Rosehill Memorial Park, both
in Minot, in the spring, those arrangements by Thompson-Larson
Funeral Home of Minot.
Memorials are preferred to the North Dakota chapter of the American
Diabetes Association (NDADA), 1323-23rd St. S, Fargo, ND 58103,
or to the choice of the donor.
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