Joel David Fisler M.D.

Joel David Fisler, a man who was as kind and compassionate as he was up for a good party, passed away at his home on December 22nd, 2021.

The son of a Jewish immigrant and Kansas City native, Joel spent his childhood working in his father’s dry goods store. He gained many life lessons including you don’t sell elastic by the stretch yard, a story he loved to tell, as well as the importance of treating every person with dignity. As he grew his experiences widened as he learned to sail and became a junior docent at the Kansas City Museum of Art.

When it was time for college, Joel attended Tulane University where he studied history, then changed his focus to pre-med. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity where his escapades led to stories that inspired “Sammy” members to come. During senior year, he and a fellow Sammy moved to the French Quarter and pretended to be artists. Their talent was as poor as the money they made. His antics threatened his ability to graduate, but he managed to be elected Student Body President and earn his degree.

After college, he earned his medical degree at the University of Missouri and in 1963 enlisted in the U.S. Public Health Service Corps. The Corps posted him on a ship in the Caribbean. During his service, he had ample time to learn to scuba dive and later enjoyed saying that his primary medical role was handing out condoms.

On Joel’s first day of orthopedic residency, he met Linda and told her she was the first person that smiled at him all day. Linda and Joel married and Linda continued creating smiles, as their life was exciting and full of adventures. Along with their daughters, Whitney and Shara, they enjoyed exploring the world - being travelers, not tourists. They rode horses across Italy on the ancient Appian Way, watched the sunrise in Cambodia from Angkor Wat, and rode in a hot air balloon over the Kenyan Maasai Mara.

During Joel’s years of practice as an orthopedic surgeon, he never brought his work home. So much so, that one day, Linda heard a story on the radio about a man whose arm was cut off while working at a carwash and was reattached by a surgeon. Linda told Joel the story and learned that it was Joel who had reattached the arm. If Linda had not brought it up, she would never have known. Joel began his practice in Arizona which evolved into Phoenix Orthopedic Center and Sports Medicine. Joel took on whatever specialty was most in need, never holding on to ego or afraid to learn something new. But as the practice grew, Joel began to spend less time with patients and more on business matters, making his work feel less rewarding. So at 62 he retired and moved to San Diego. But after one year, he went back to what he loved, working with patients until COVID forced him to stop practicing medicine at 83 years old.

When not working, Joel was never found idle. In the earlier days, he enjoyed tennis, windsurfing, and scuba. Later he went fox-hunting with Linda – cantering and yelling “yippee ki-yay” much to the laughter of others on the field. And later still, he went bird watching and baked bread. Throughout his life, he had a passion for classic cars. His last purchase was his dream 1934 Packard Super 8 Victoria. Linda threw a 1930s-themed-bash to welcome the car and to celebrate.

Joel worked to support civil liberty and social equality. He campaigned for change and change-makers. He enjoyed intellectual argument with those on opposite sides of thought.

Joel’s greatest purpose in life was as a father. For both Whitney and Shara, he was always a moral compass and teacher and later a friend. He encouraged their pursuits. He embraced Whitney’s love of flying and together they flew ultralights and even a “trike” over Victoria Falls. It brought him great joy that she followed in his footsteps to attend Tulane and dedicates herself to matters of justice. Joel supported Shara’s vision for Ocean Discovery Institute. From the beginning, he served burgers at the BBQs and cleaned the field station in Baja getting it ready for students to arrive. He acted as a medic at Watershed Avengers events, walked the neighborhoods in support of educational propositions, asked questions of students, and was among the first to donate for whatever was needed. He shared his belief that a human being’s job is to make the world a better place. Both his children chose professions that embodied this.

Just one day after his 82nd birthday he became a grandfather when Lila Kelly Fisler was born. The two of them developed an especially close relationship. He called her “the baby” and she called him “My Gooey GU.”

On the day he passed away, Joel was in his bed listening to one of his favorite podcasts, Revolutions, and doing bicep curls. We know he will always be remembered as a fun-loving, curious, humble, generous man who made people feel they belonged. Every one of us has a story about Joel that makes us smile. Joel was 85 years old and will be deeply missed by his wife, Linda, daughters, Whitney, and Shara, along with Brian Duncan, granddaughter, Lila, and a slew of relatives and friends that feel like family.