John David Fischer

Our world became a little less bright on March 8, 2026, with the passing of our awesome Pop—John David Fischer-- in San Diego, California at the age of 95. He was a cheerful, loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather to many, an adventurer with a curious nature that inspired and shaped our lives for decades. He will be dearly missed by all his family, but not forgotten.

Pop was born on March 21, 1930, in Monrovia, California to Jack and Leta Fisher. He was born in the middle of the great depression when jobs were scarce and his father took a job in construction, building Boulder Dam. The family—John (Pop) and his sisters, Joan and Louise lived in a tent city with some of their aunts, uncles and cousins, and grew their own food. After a few years his father built them a home in San Gabriel canyon and then later Monrovia, where his younger brother Pete was born. In 1945, the family moved to Ridgecrest and Pop later told his kids stories about wandering around the desert and up into the mountains, where he developed a life-long love of the mountains, that he passed on to all of his family. He attended his last couple years of high school in Bakersfield at St Francis High School (Garces) where he had many adventures as an avid motorcycle rider. He attended college briefly at Santa Clara and then UC Berkeley but his adventurous spirit was intrigued by a job with his Uncle Earl, building a railroad in Liberia, Africa, so off he went. Meanwhile, back at UC Berkeley, his younger sister had befriended a sorority sister named Mary Menick, to whom she told stories of her good-looking older brother in Africa. When Pop returned to UC Berkeley, he met and married Mary, the love of his life, for 69 years. After marriage, he studied engineering books on his own and challenged and passed the California State Engineering License exam. There began the next adventure of his life, raising his children.

John and Mary had nine children, the first four of which were born in different towns as Pop worked for his father's construction business. He decide he needed to settle down in one place, so he then took a job as a design Engineer at Cal Trans in Fresno, California where the next five kids were born. He took his kids on countless adventures over the next twenty years to the mountains, especially Yosemite, teaching them how to camp and backpack all over the Sierras, surviving on minimal rations and gear. It was a tremendous experience for all of his kids. During that time, the family also took many many road trips to places like Lassen National Park, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Bryce and Zion National Parks in Utah and the Grand Canyon . After his oldest two daughters got married and left home, Pop transferred to Cal Trans San Diego, and worked as right-of-way engineer there until he retired in his 60's.

After retirement, the adventures continued. He and Mary learned to fly, got their pilot's licenses and bought a plane with partners. They learned to windsurf in Mission Bay in San Diego, and took regular camping trips back to the mountains. They worked many years as as surveyors for their son, Thom, who was building pipelines for power plants in Canada and Alaska. They traveled to several countries, including Peru, Argentina, Guatemala, the Panama canal, Costa Rica, Mexico and Europe.

By far the greatest legacy Pop gave to his family was the love of, and loyalty to family. His family was everything to him and he so enjoyed his later years playing with and visiting his kids, grandkids and great-grandkids and loved them to come visit him. He attended many sporting events, dance competitions, graduations, weddings, and other significant events of all his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He would never hesitate to drop everything to help one of them out, and shared his expertise on life, teaching many of them to read, drive, sail, and much more.

He is preceded in death by his beloved wife, Mary, his parents, Jack and Leta, his brother, Pete Fisher and sister Joan Anderson, his son, John David (Jack) Fischer Jr, grandchild, Dustin Watney, and granddaughter-in-law, Stacey Fischer. He is survived by his sister Louise, sister-in-law Kathleen Fisher, children Diana Gard (Mike),

Paula Watney (Mike), Thom Fischer (Suzie), Nancy Fox (Steve), Stephen Fischer (Ellen), Theresa Fischer, Margaret Franke, Peter Fischer (Tammy), daughter-in-law and Jack's widow, Joyce Baird, 24 grandchildren, and 40 great-grandchildren.

Services for Pop include a Celebration of Life at Rueda on Sunday, May 3 at 12 noon, with lunch, and a Burial at Dearborn Cemetery, Monday May 4 at 9am.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a charity of your choice in his honor.