Dr. Douglas Eugene Fisher

Douglas E. Fisher, DVM, veterinarian, entrepreneur, and philanthropist died on December 23rd, 2022 at the age of 77, after complications with the installation of a pacemaker at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne Indiana.

Dr. Fisher “Doc” was born July 6th, 1945 in Fort Wayne Indiana to Dale and Dorothy Fisher. Doug was baptized at Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church and attended Bethlehem Lutheran Grade School. He graduated from Concordia High School in 1963 and later graduated from Purdue University in 1969 as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. In 1977, he married and is survived by Cora Lee Carper from Spencerville, Indiana, who currently lives in Huntertown.

Dr. Fisher has three children, Heidi (married to Josh Worman) who lives in Leo, Christopher (married to Susan Fisher) who lives in Leo, and Inga (married to Robert Rogers) living in Fort Wayne. Dr. Fisher has nine grandchildren: Logan and Grace Worman, Denali and Rainier Fisher, and Ezekiel, Estellah, Leo, Lola, and Solomon Rogers. Dr. Fisher has fourteen nieces and nephews; Danelle Kellams, Bradley Fisher, David Grandbois, Gina Green, Tracy Evers, Kirstan Aborn, Heath Webb, David Webb, Nicole Millet, Chad Carper, Stacy Hudson, Melissa Salway, William Jettinghoff, and Zachary Carper. Even though Doc had many children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, he spent time with each of them in a unique and personal way.

Dr. Fisher’s older brother Denny precedes him in death, and he is survived by his younger sister Debbie who currently lives in Anderson, and his younger brother David who is living in Fort Wayne. Through his life’s work, Doc left a memorable legacy with his clients, community, and all who knew him. His family describes Doug as a loyal, kind, compassionate, hard-working, loving, smart and fun family man. He was a fine gentleman.

Dr. Fisher built an extensive veterinary practice in northeastern Indiana from the ground up by serving the interests of his clients and his patients ahead of his own. Doc was known nationally as an expert in the field of equine medicine, a true horse whisperer, who seemed to read his patients as he felt for heat or cool in their knees, pasterns, ankles, and hooves. Often, it seemed he could read the animal’s aliment as he walked from the truck to their side. Doc’s low, soothing speech would calm his patients who were usually in pain or felt afraid. Among the best clients that he served were the families of the Amish faith whose livelihoods could depend on him for their success. Doc was treated as one of their own by the Lengacher family and many others.

Through the years, Doc had been the official veterinarian of such institutions and events as the Allen County and Whitley County 4H programs, the Shrine Circus when performing at the War Memorial Coliseum, regional rodeos, and many other equine sporting events. When needed, he helped Dr. Lawrence Ackerman of the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo on challenging cases. With these experiences he was fortunate to work on many different specifies of animals including bison, zebra, giraffe, camel, elephant, parrots, and a tortoise…in addition to dogs and cats.

At the rodeos, he was able to mend some of the most ferocious bulls and the most rank broncs. There’s even a legend about him patching up the injured cowboys along with the animals behind the chutes. He was a longtime friend with the world-famous cowboy and Shriner Ray Giant who was his client and one of the finest equestrians.

As a veterinarian, Dr. Fisher was a very giving person. He supported a variety of philanthropic and charitable causes from the grassroots, giving people a hand up. Doc was excellent for the community as a giver. When we think of Doc, we think of his exceptional veterinary work; however, Doc was a family man first and foremost. The number one importance in his life was his family and his faith. If you were his friend, consider yourself lucky, because Doc spent most of his time with his nine grandkids. Dr. Fisher liked teaching his children, grandchildren, and all kids about horses, their care, and horsemanship (how to be a cowboy or cowgirl). He was known to consistently have a few broke horses on hand for the youngest kids to enjoy.

There were many topics that fascinated Dr. Fisher including biology and geology, natural history, and many other areas of interests such as firearms and ballistics, hiking, canoeing, and adventure travel. He once climbed the long snow field from Paradise to Camp Muir at 10,188 feet on the south flank of Mount Rainier with his daughter and son. Most recently, Doc took the family on an Air Stream vacation, one of his greatest dreams.

Dr. Fisher’s children Heidi, Christopher, and Inga feel strongly about his philanthropic causes and especially his philosophy of caring for people and being good stewards of the earth. Dr. Fisher was a member of many organizations around the state and in the Huntertown community, including: ACRES Land Trust, Fun of the Farm Daycare, Isaac Walton League, many horse rescues, Mighty in the Land Ministry, and Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church. He was a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Indiana Veterinary Medical Association, and the Northern Indiana Veterinary Medical Association.

Dr. Fisher grew up on Euclid Street in Fort Wayne, and later moved to Plaza Drive. As a small child, Doc longed to be a cowboy, and for adventures of the wilderness. In his own words he “would walk to where the sidewalk ends and keep going…sometimes for miles.” Doc would hike great distances to the perimeters of the city without his mother’s awareness, and would canoe the local rivers and creeks with his best friends, including Kent Lamont. Young Doc and his friends would shoot their rifles, run the rapids, and camp eating nothing but Spam and canned foods. Once they jumped on a freight train and his mother Dorothy had to pick them up a few towns away.

As he grew into a young man, Dr. Fisher honed his shooting skills at the Isaac Walton League, became an expert marksman, and developed his love for ballistics, reloading, and gun smithing that continued throughout his life. Eventually, his parents purchased an old Christmas tree farm in Huntertown located on the land that the Fisher family developed into what is now the present-day Forest Canyon and Forest Glade neighborhoods. On this property was a beautiful old bank barn with a few cellar stalls and a hay mound above; perfect for horses. Young Doug and his sister Debbie soon acquired two horses, one of which was a buckskin quarter horse mare named Dunn Robin, Bobbie for short, who was carrying a foal.

In 1965, Doug moved to West Lafayette to fulfill his dream of becoming a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at Purdue University, with a focus on large animals. At Purdue, Doc enjoyed great learning and discovery as he studied the inner workings of horses, cows, pigs, dogs, and cats.

Back on the family property in the spring of 1967, his sister’s horse Bobbie foaled a red sorrel colt with a white dot on his forehead. They named him Cedar Dunn Dee and Doug affectionally called him Dot. Dr. Fisher knew and cared for countless horses; however, Dot was the first horse that he raised from a foal, trained to ride with a bosal, and claimed for his own.

Later that year to the dissatisfaction of the dormitory’s hall monitor, Doc assembled an entire horse skeleton in his dorm room and was kicked out for using a bull whip on a friend of his who was smoking a cigarette. Without concern, he happily moved off campus into a trailer on a small farm and brought his new horse Dot to Purdue. This allowed him to ride his horse daily and work directly with a professor and local veterinarian named Dr. Charles “Chuck” Heinze. In class, Doc excelled, and would even get extra credit from his biology professors by bringing back rocks and plants from the canoe trips they enjoyed instead of attending the previous lecture.

After graduating from Purdue in 1969, his first assignments were in Niles, Michigan working at the horse hospital for Dr. Burkman and in Lima, Ohio for Dr. McMann. In 1971, he moved to New York to be the veterinarian at the prestigious Belmont Park thoroughbred racetrack. That short, yet exciting experience, solidified his desire to always consider the animal’s well-being. Dr. Fisher settled back in the Fort Wayne area with his horse Dot, who liked being back in his old hay barn. He began working for Dr. Walsh in Churubusco before venturing out on his own and starting a “mobile veterinarian practice” with the first one of his many “vet trucks” that Doc was known for over the years.

On one of these early vet calls, at the age of 26, Dr. Fisher met the love of his life, Cora Lee Carper. It was only fitting that their first date was on a cold winter night of 1972, when Doc picked up Cora who was dressed in a nice outfit and cute shoes, and took her on an emergency horse call. When they arrived at the farm, Doug quickly cleared a trail through in the snow from the truck to the barn so that Cora could walk without getting her feet wet and cold. Doug and Cora began 6 years of dating which went on until one day as they were tarring the outer basement walls of their future home together and Cora threaten Doug with tar-covered paint brush to marry her or else.

Dr. Fisher and Cora were married on December 2nd, 1977. Doc was welcomed into the Carper family gaining two new sisters, Linda and Beth, and four new brothers, George, Leo, David, and Philip. They loved Doug as their own and looked up to him as a bother, a leader, a counselor, and a friend.

Soon after they were married, their three rambunctious children were born: Heidi in 1979, Christopher in 1981, and Inga in 1983. Doc loved his family and built a salt box house for them and established Sun Valley Farm on Coldwater Road. Their farm was complete with a horse barn for Dot, fenced paddocks, and hay fields that he planted and harvested with his tractors and equipment. He introduced his children to horses and Doc’s son recalls his first equine memories were of Dot.

In addition to the barn and pastures, Doc re-shaped the old gravel pit into a ski hill and installed an operational rope tow which he purchased from Swiss Valley in Jones, MI. He took his family and friends skiing often and during many winter seasons he would make the 90-minute drive to Swiss Valley three times a week so that his son could compete on the alpine racing team. Years later, Doc, Chris and future wife Susan, and their cherished friend Neale Shank built a 32-foot ice wall to climb.

Dr. Fisher enjoyed the outdoors and instilled the same appreciation for nature in his children and friends by taking them on countless canoe trips down Cedar Creek and endless miles of hiking trails throughout the United States and Canada. Every summer, Doc would drive his wife and kids to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula along the shore of Lake Superior for adventures of every kind at his beloved place: Grand Maris.

There were many facets to Dr. Fisher’s life. He was a man of science and curiosity, mixed old with new, a true renaissance man. He was a great philosopher, the kind with “mud on his boots,” so to speak, who was not afraid to roll up his sleeves and getting his hands dirty. Doc liked to read about the great explorers of the north; Lasalle, Marquette, Joliet, Father Jorges, and others, who had all come this area via the Great Lakes: Superior and Michigan.

Doc had an amazement for nature; he was enamored by small wonders like wind blowing through tall grass. Doc would often narrate his own nature film clips with his “radio voice” that rivaled the great Marty Stouffer himself. Doc was an expert naturalist and could identify most trees from their leaves and bark. He was an active and outspoken advocate for wetland conservation and water quality concerns.

At the same time, the mechanical world would captivate his mind. As a young boy, he spent hours building model airplanes with his brother Denny, who later became a pilot. Though fixing animals was his specialty, throughout his life he would enjoy fixing things like tractors, and that old hay baler, or at least he would try. He’s remembered saying he “liked blood more than grease because it washes off your hand easier.”

Dr. Fisher took time to listen and understand things, including animals and their people’s problems, in the same way he could whisper to horses. He would search earnestly for practical solutions for man, animal, or machine.

The benefits of Doc’s wisdom and advice helped us to be better people. Doc understood how quality craftsmanship and systematic work could yield miraculous results. He gave us courage to go on adventures beyond our wildest expectations and helped us conquer and realize our own dreams. To many people, he was the example for having “big dreams” and made ideas like going to Mars seems reachable.

Dr. Fisher recognized people’s potentials without holding preconceived notions of what someone ought to be. He respected your God given talents and passions. He inspired confidence, and capability. Dr. Fisher would make you feel like a hero for being a good person, who values family, God, and hard work. He believed in servant-leadership and loyalty to his wife, children, parents, animals, the community and environment. Doc respected your opinion, no matter what. Doc never wanted anything or anyone to suffer, especially people. Doc cared for people as much as he did for animals.

Funeral service is 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 4th, 2023, at St. Matthews Lutheran Church, 2305 Goshen Road, Fort Wayne, with calling one hour prior. Calling also from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 3rd, 2023, at D.O. McComb & Sons Pine Valley Park Funeral Home, 1320 East Dupont Road, Fort Wayne. Burial will be in Cedar Creek Cemetery, Garrett. Memorial donations may be given to Shriners Hospitals for Children or Mighty in the Land Ministry. Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared with the Fisher family at www.mccombandsons.com