Paul D. Fisher 1951-2025

 

Paul as a toddler

Paul Douglas Fisher passed away peacefully in his sleep at Meridian Park Hospital in Tualatin on the evening of February 21, 2025, at the age of 74. His wife and best friend of forty-five years, Karen was at his side til the very end. He was a New Year's baby born on January 1, 1951, in Klamath Falls, Oregon to Philip and Dorothy Fisher while his father was working for Peter Kiewit & Sons as a foreman building highways, dams, and other large infrastructure projects across the Pacific Northwest. He and his siblings traveled wherever work took their father around Oregon, living out of their 1953 Schult House Trailer. One of the things he always laughed about living in the trailer was being tethered outside so he wouldn’t run off on his mother while she was cleaning inside as he was always adventurous, even at such a young age. The family finally settled down in the Portland area in a home built by his parents and extended family. 

Paul, his father and sister

Just as Paul was about to enter school, tragedy struck his family. Philip died in a construction accident near Astoria in the summer of 1956. Thanks to his union job and pension, Dorothy and her family were able to move and buy a large property in the then more rural Metzger in Washington County. As difficult as losing a father at a young age can be Paul flourished in the setting the Metzger area provided a young person.  Lots of forested areas to play and explore, and he grew up developing a love for woodworking, camping, fishing, and hunting. They raised chickens and grew apples, pears, grapes, blackberries, walnuts, and filberts.

He made many lifelong friends attending Metzger Elementary, the old Fowler (he always made sure to point that out to his kids as they went to the new  Fowler), and finally Tigard High School where he excelled in sports, history, and mechanics. He especially enjoyed playing Football. One of the highlights of his youthful adventures was attending Vortex I at Milo McIver State Park. He had many colorful stories of his several days at the festival.

 

Paul in his Football uniform, dressed for graduation with sister and Marry'n Sam at a Sadie Hawkins

 

 He enjoyed spending time with his grandparents when time allowed. It was one of his ways of getting to know what kind of person his father was. They lived in Chowchilla, California and never lost their love of farming from their days living in Oklahoma before World War II. They became wonderful gardeners that Paul always remembered them having a bounty to share. Getting to sit in the garage with Grandpa Charlie where you were allowed to swear if needed as Grandma Winnie didn’t approve of that kind of behavior in the house. 

Paul and Karen at their wedding

 

After school, Paul took many jobs in the Portland region like being a bouncer in downtown Portland clubs in the early 1970s until he started working for Dean and later Dave Trumbo, a local Tigard wholesaler of building materials. He drove trucks and delivered doors, windows, and other materials to job sites big and small all around Oregon. He enjoyed the lifestyle of being a trucker, especially the swearing.  A habit he kept long after he stopped driving trucks. It was during this time that Paul was introduced to his future wife Karen through her brother Clifford and his brother Wayne. They married in Tigard in March of 1980 at the Gethsemane Lutheran Church off Greenburg Road and held their wedding reception at the Tigard Eagles Clubhouse. 

Paul, his brother, uncle, sisters, mother and cousin at his wedding

 

 

They enjoyed traveling around the Western United States to visit with family in California, Arizona, and all the places in between. A constant in those early years were their pups Meg & Jo and cat Smokey. Soon to follow were their children Carl and Kimberly. He was a loving father to his children and supportive of his many nieces and nephews. He and his brother often took the kids fishing and regaled them with stories of memorable past excursions. He supported his children in pursuing bowling. It was a sport you could start at a young age and didn’t require parents to sit out in the rain or heat and they could enter tournaments with their kids.

For a short time he worked at the GAF-Viewmaster plant in Progress, a place many in the family had worked over the years for various periods. Paul attended technical school to repair refrigerators/freezers and other appliances. In the late 1980s he got a job with the Xomox Corporation. He would work there for nearly twenty years. He built and repaired industrial valves and components for machines big and small. He loved his co-workers and soon his brother Wayne started working in the shop next door to him and they would often give each other rides to work together.

Paul with his kids at Bethel UCC

In the late 1990s he started attending Bethel United Church of Christ with his family and found friends there who also enjoyed helping out with keeping the church grounds taken care of and was part of a crew of older gentleman that took turns mowing lawns helping fix things that needed fixing. Many of them were from his parents' generation and he always enjoyed listening to their life stories when they would share. 

 

In the mid 2000s a workplace accident forced him to retire and he spent more time working on his guns, fishing and spending time with family. He spent several years helping his Great Uncle John navigate aging and helping shuttle him to his various appointments in his final years. He always appreciated spending time with Uncle John because he was the closest thing to a father he and his siblings had throughout their lives after his dad passed away. One of his favorite memories was taking Uncle John (then in his mid 90s) on a final family camping trip to Timothy Lake in 2014. 

Never giving up his love of history he enjoyed reading about U.S. history, especially Oregon, World War II,  and the old west about cowboys, miners, and native peoples. Exploring his family history was also important to him and he loved learning about family ancestors he never had the chance to learn about from his parents though family ancestry.com research. He was able to request replacement medals for his father Philip’s service, read articles about him and even obtain his official service records from the National Personnel Records Center. He was one of the lucky ones, many records were destroyed in a fire in the 1970s. 

Paul and his Great Uncle Camping Summer of 2014

In the 2010s Paul experienced some health setbacks and he worked with his team of doctors to overcome and get him back on track so he could be there for his family. He took great pride in seeing his daughter marry and buy a house. He was able to see his son graduate college and find rewarding work in state and local government.  Much joy was brought by his parade of cats he adopted over the last decade and working on projects around the house. He enjoyed reconnecting with high school friends at an informal monthly lunch they started organizing after his Tigard High 50th Reunion.

While he could be a grump and had a curmudgeonly exterior, inside he had a big heart and once you were in his circle there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for you if it was within his ability to help. Family and Friends all have stories of Paul stepping up to help out for something he didn’t need to have anything to do with, but if you needed help and asked he followed through the best he could.  

Paul enjoying a day at the beach

Paul was preceded in death by his parents father Philip (1956), mother Dorothy (1997), brother Wayne (2018), and is survived by; his wife Karen, children Carl and Kim (Brandon), his sisters Phyliss, Kim & Katie and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews and the many friends whose lives he touched. A memorial service will be held at Metzger Park on June 22nd. You can email Carl for more details.

 

 The family is collecting funds for a memorial bench to be installed at the park. You can donate to that fund here.