Albert Fisher 1916-1946

FISHER, CHRISTOPHERSEN, POWERS, TENNANT, TILLETT, KNIGHT

Posted By: Sharon Elijah (email)
Date: 2/4/2017 at 09:37:44

18 July 1946 - The Clarence Sun

The first information that Pilot Albert Fisher had been killed in a plane accident near Walcott Tuesday night came through radio reports. That those who knew Albert here may get all the information available the Cedar Rapids Gazette's report is given here in part:

Two Cedar Rapids men, a Hunter Flying Service pilot and a service representative of Iowa Manufacturing company--were killed Tuesday night when their twin-engine Cessna plane crashed and burned in a field three miles east of Walcott, Iowa, in Scott county.

The dead are: Albert Fisher, 29, of 853 Fifth avenue SE, pilot of the ship. George J. Thomson, 61, of 1620 Center Point road, the only passenger in the ship.

Immediate identification of the bodies was impossible Tuesday night, and no word of the crash reached Cedar Rapids until early Wednesday morning.

Fisher and Thompson took off from York, Pa., late Tuesday, probably around 4 p.m. to fly to Cedar Rapids. From Akron, Ohio, a wire came that they would arrive at Hunter field at 10:45 p.m.

"The plane evidently was afire in the air." according to Deputy Sheriff Paul Martin of Scott county, "and the pilot was searching the ground for a place to land. The landing gear on the ship was down, giving further indication that Pilot Fisher had encountered trouble in the air and was forced to make a landing."

At least five persons are believed to have seen the plane before it crashed.

Deputy Sheriff Martin ventured the opinion that both men were dead before the ship reached the ground. Martin is a pilot. "One of the bodies was still burning when I arrived and I extinguished the blaze."

Two traveling bags were found about 250 feet from the place wreckage and one of these contained a card bearing Thomson's name and address.

Thomson is survived by his wife and one son, George Thomson, jr., also an Iowa Manufacturing company employee.

Pilot Fisher was married; had no children. His mother, Mrs. Joe Fisher, lives at Clarence. His wife also is an employee of Hunter Flying service.

Fisher, associated with Hunter field for more than four years, was chief pilot in charge of the G. I. air training program now operative and, during the war, served as an instructor in the war training service program at the field.

"Pilots don't come any better than Al Fisher," Hunter field Manager Wathan declared Wednesday. "He was an experienced, cautious, capable flyer."

25 July 1946 - The Clarence Sun

Albert J. Fisher, son of the late Joe Fisher and wife Dora, nee Christophersen, was born on December 10, 1816, at Clarence.

He moved with his parents to Mt. Vernon in 1929, finishing the eighth grade there; was a graduate of Mt. Vernon high school and attended Cornell College for three years. He had an exceptional talent for music but was equally alert in other branches of study.

Until the time of their disbanding he was a member of the well known Fisher's Orchestra.

For the past four years, he was a commercial pilot at Hunter's Flying Service, being chief pilot in charge of the G. I. air training program now operative, and during the war served as an instructor in the war training service program of the field.

On August 20, 1945, he was married to Miss Glennys Powers of Cedar Rapids and they made their home at 837-5th Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids.

Besides his wife, he is survived by his mother: Mrs. Dora Fisher, of Clarence; two brothers, Robert and Howard Fisher, both of Mt. Vernon; three sisters: Mrs. Wm. Tennant, Trinidad, B. W. L.; Mrs. Royce Tillett of Kane, Wyoming; Mrs. Roy Knight of Frederick, Oklahoma, and his grandfather, A. E. Christophersen of Clarence, besides more distant relatives and a wide circle of friends.

Funeral services were held from the Brady Mortuary in Cedar Rapids on Friday, July 29, with interment in the Mt. Vernon cemetery. Rev. F. J. Mittler officiated at the services, assisted at the grave by the Mt. Vernon Masonic Lodge.