Antonia Fischer

Antonia "Toni" Fischer, a longtime resident of the South Morro Hills community of Oceanside, passed away in Seal Beach, California on March 26, 2022. A memorial gathering will be held on Saturday, May 7, 2022, at 1:00 PM, with reception following, at

Eternal Hills Memorial Park

1999 El Camino Real

Oceanside, CA 92054

760-754-6600

A burial service for the cremains of both Toni and John Fischer will be held on Monday, May 9, at 9:30 AM at

Miramar National Cemetery

5795 Nobel Drive

San Diego, CA 92122

858-658-7360

Those who wish to send flowers to the memorial need to have them delivered to Eternal Hills no sooner than Friday May 6 and no later than 11 AM on May 7. We ask you to consider donating in her memory to the ASPCA or to St Jude Children’s Hospital in lieu of flowers. Here are links to her memorial pages on those charities' websites:

https://secure.aspca.org/team/antoniafischer

https://tinyurl.com/AntoniaStJude

Antonia Adamo was born in Rome, New York on July 7, 1924, to Italian immigrants Joseph and Josephine Adamo, the fifth of their six children. Her family was of the highest importance to her, and she was a devoted sister to Dominick, Barbara, John, Peter, and Joseph. She was petite but powerful, lively and determined. She had a wonderful sense of humor.

As a child she would organize stage shows with other neighborhood children -- she told us she always took the role of Ginger Rogers in these recreations of musicals.

After high school, she went to secretarial school, and decided to apply for a job at Revere, one of the largest employers in Rome, NY. Her father, a worker at that factory, warned her that an Italian would never be hired to work in offices there — she was proud to prove him wrong.

Her brother John came to California in the 1930s with the hope of being a movie star. He returned to Rome, NY after the earthquake of 1933, and started a popular restaurant there. He never lost his love of California, though, and eventually convinced his family (with the exception of Dominick) to relocate there in the 1950s. He and his brothers started the Villa Adamo in Garden Grove and later Adamo's in Anaheim.

Antonia also moved west to join them. She traveled with her parents, accompanying them on the long train ride to Los Angeles. They lived in a home very near her married sister in Garden Grove. Her father died in 1956, and her mother in 1959. Antonia then moved in with her sister's family, sharing the home with Barbara and Thomas Mungari and their three sons -- Patrick, Thomas, and Joseph.

Antonia worked as an executive secretary at Hunt Foods, and like most members of the Adamo family, helped her brothers by serving as a hostess at their restaurant.

In 1960, Velda and John Fischer and their four children moved into a house across the street from the Mungaris. After Velda's death from cancer in 1965, John's mother came to live with the family. In 1966, John asked Toni on a date. His mother asked him where he was taking her. He said they were going to see "The Sound of Music." After a pause, she asked him, "Do you know what that movie is about?" He admitted he didn't, just that it was a musical recommended by someone at work. His mother laughed and said it was about a widower with a big family who falls in love with a young woman -- a former novitiate -- who comes to help care for their children.

Apparently, life was going to imitate art to some extent -- on January 21, 1967 John and Antonia married. She was 42, had never been married, and took on the role of wife and stepmother while living with her mother-in-law. The three stepchildren still living at home were 13, 11, and 10. Never say she lacked courage.

The family moved to Los Alamitos, John's mother (with whom Toni got along famously) returned to Kansas, and Toni survived teenagers. John rose to the office of Vice President of Smith Tool Company, where among other innovations, he was involved in their improved development of tungsten carbide in drill-bit manufacturing. After his children reached adulthood, he left the company to start his own carbide manufacturing plant. To do so, he asked Toni to be willing to risk their home and savings and the security of his long career with Smith to start this new venture. She agreed, and the two of them established Progressive Carbide. They worked together every day.

The company became a success.

The Fischers sold it to bit-maker Security and retired to South Morro Hills, where they had purchased a home in 1982. At first staying there mostly on weekends, they gradually spent more time there, and lived in the house full time by late 1989. Their former home on Sleeping Indian Road is now the site of the Beach House Winery. They moved to their home on Grove View Road in 1997.

Toni was active in the South Morro Hills Association, of which John served as president. She attended city council meetings to have a stop sign put in at Grove View Road and Sleeping Indian, and supported John's successful work with others to have a streetlight placed at North River and Sleeping Indian. They worked to keep the area litter-free and preserved as an agricultural community.

John and Toni hosted many social gatherings at their homes on Sleeping Indian and Grove View Road. Toni was active in local charitable efforts, especially those which helped children, and she was a dedicated supporter of the arts. She often arranged for large groups of South Morro Hills friends to attend productions at the Moonlight Theatre in Vista.

These were their best years -- they traveled globally and throughout the US, entertained, enjoyed family, and made friendships that endured for over three decades. They also spent time in vacation homes in Lake Arrowhead and Maui, but eventually sold those to focus on life in South Morro Hills.

John and Toni were dog lovers, and adopted many of them over the years.

Toni was proud of her Italian heritage and was thrilled when an Ancestry DNA test allowed her to connect with Richard Adamo, a cousin who helped her learn more of her family history and brought back memories of other family members in New York. She also helped John maintain connections with his extended family, sponsoring a reunion in San Diego in 2000.

The Fischers' marriage of over 53 years was one filled with love and laughter, mutual respect and devotion to family.

Toni was John's steadfast supporter and caregiver through his years of struggling with Alzheimer's, which eventually took a toll on their social life, although many in South Morro Hills provided important support to them in that time. As their family became increasing concerned about them, Toni suffered a stroke in late July, 2018. Although we had hope for her full recovery, she had other health challenges, and she never completely regained her pre-stroke abilities. Possibly also as result of the stroke, she became increasingly affected by dementia.

In July of 2020, due to concerns about the care she was getting at home and the effects of isolation during the pandemic, her family chose to move her to memory care at Sunrise of Seal Beach. This was close to the homes of her daughters Jan and Sandra, who were able to visit her often once the lockdown eased. She was also visited there as often as possible (and virtually) by her daughter Tonya and son John, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and her nephews and nieces, and even by friends from Oceanside.

All are heartbroken by the loss of a loving, lively, energetic woman, who loved helping others, who was generous and kind. Her determination, her stylishness, her humor, and her devotion to family are among the traits for which we remember her.

She was predeceased by her beloved husband, John Francis Fischer; grandson William Pearsley; her brothers Dominick, John, Peter, and Joseph, and her sister, Barbara.

She is survived by children Tonya Pearsley of El Cajon, Jan (Timothy) Burke of Long Beach, Sandra Cvar of Los Alamitos; and John G. (Veronica) Fischer of Irving, Texas; grandchildren John A Pearsley, Jr., Timbrely Pearsley, Steven T. Cvar, Shaun Cvar, Heather Cvar, Shawna Fischer Haggerty, and Sheldon Fischer; great-grandchildren Lexy Haslam, Liam Taylor, Grey Ricks, and Dean Haggerty.

She is also survived by Thomas Mungari, Joseph Mungari, Gina Adamo Baker, Robert Adamo, and Joanne Mungari Cerney, and many other beloved nieces, nephews, and grandnieces and grandnephews.