Her parents, Frank Willard and Adelaide (Wolfel) Niles welcomed their daughter into the world on August 31, 1935 in Keene, NH.
She grew up in Keene and was a graduate of Keene High School. Rose had a thirst for knowledge attending Keene State College where she received a Bachelor Degree in Education in 1957. She later completed graduate courses at Plymouth State College and Boston University. On February 12, 1960 in Keene, NH, she married Warren Gifford Fisher Jr. of Hillsboro, NH.
Being highly successful in the field of engineering, a career primarily dominated by men during this era, Rose climbed the ladder of success, earning management positions as well as acknowledgement in local and national newspapers for her success in the field of engineering. A dedicated worker, Rose began her career in 1957, working in educational supervision and direction with Supervisory Union #60. She went on to work as an account executive and technical director and producer with WRLP-TV, and as a merchandising representative with Giltex Corporation. Rose’s most recognized accomplishments in the work force were her 18 years in the field of advanced manufacturing engineering with Honeywell’s Electropac Operation in Peterborough, NH.
She was a member of many professional groups including APICS, the American Production and Inventory Control Society; was the first woman to become Chairman of the Contoocook Valley Chapter #177 of the National Association of Tool and Manufacturing Engineers; the AMA; and the IMC. Rose also participated on many community projects including Chairman of Vocational Electronics Committee for procurement and development of staff, curricula, and materials for the study of electronics and associated programs at Conval High School in Peterborough, NH; and the committee for the development of vocational rehabilitation programs and standards of measurements skills for the disabled at Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center in Greenfield, NH.
Following retirement, Rose and her husband, Warren, created Crystal Cache Minerals, a business that found them traveling all over the country, sometimes spending 3 months at a time, collecting minerals. It was this business that provided them with many opportunities, both in traveling as well as meeting people from all over the world, as vendors at the many mineral shows they participated in.
She was an avid floral and vegetable gardener as well as an avid fisherman and hunter. Typically, Rose would get her deer every other year while her husband, Warren, usually got one every year. However, one year she got her deer but Warren did not. This did not go over well in the Fisher Camp! They also volunteered for many years assisting the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Salmon Restoration program, and banding geese with the NH Fish & Game Department. Rose also participated in the Audubon Society’s annual Whippoorwill count.
She was very adventurous, enjoying traveling, especially her many trips to Hawaii where she especially enjoyed whale watching from a raft.
She had a special love for music, and was the choir director at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Keene for many years; and was also a member of the Keene Chorale.
Rose is survived by her daughter, Andrea “Andy” Fisher of Swanzey; a brother-in-law, Vernon Fisher of Keene; and several cousins, nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband of 46 years, Warren G. Fisher, Jr. in 2006, and her sisters-in-law Beverly Fisher Fuller, Avis Fisher Labarre, and Valerie Fisher Plante.
A funeral service will be held on Thursday, January 3, 2019 at 2:00PM in the Foley Funeral Home, 49 Court Street, Keene. Burial will be in the spring in the Mountain View Cemetery, Swanzey. Family and friends are invited to call at the funeral home on Thursday from 1:00 to 2:00PM.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Mrs. Fisher’s memory to New Hampshire Fish and Game, Attention: Business Division, 11 Hazen Drive, Concord, NH 03301.
