FISCHER, Harold O. 1917-1991

FISCHER, HUISMAN, ARTHUR

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 10/6/2013 at 08:21:08

Harold O. Fischer Funeral Services This Wednesday

Harold O. Fischer, 74, of Wellsburg, passed away Sunday morning, December 15, at the Grundy County Memorial Hospital in Grundy Center.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday, Dec. 18, at the Wellsburg Reformed Church in Wellsburg at 1:30 p.m.

Harold "Grumpy" Fischer served in the Iowa General Assembly from 1959 through 1974, where he became known as the "taxpayers' watchdog."

Harold served in the military from 1941 through 1945, and remained active in the American Legion following his discharge.

Fischer started a real estate and insurance business in Wellsburg. The business was sold in 1978, but Fischer continued in real estate until the present.

He is survived by his wife, Jean, of Wellsburg, three children, grandchildren, and a sister.

A complete obituary appears in the Wellsburg Herald section of today's paper

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 19 December 1991, pg 1

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Harold Fischer Services Held

Harold O. Fischer was born on August 4, 1917 in Wellsburg the son of John L. and Grace Huisman Fischer. He passed away on December 15 at 9:35 a.m. of cancer at the Grundy County Memorial Hospital in Grundy Center.

Harold attended the Wellsburg Public School and graduated in 1935. Following graduation from high school, he attended the University of Northern Iowa and the American Institute of Business in Des Moines. After graduation from AIB, he worked briefly in the bank in West Bend. He returned to Des Moines where he was employed by LOOK magazine until 1940 when he was transferred to New York City.

In 1941, he returned to Iowa where he volunteered for military service and was inducted on June 30, 1941. After serving one year with the 3rd Armored Division, he entered Officers Candidate School at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Upon completion of that training, he was assigned to the 4th Armored Division in Pine Camp, New York. The 4th Armored Division later landed on Omaha Beach in France and participated in five major military campaigns prior to the end of the war.

Following the Battle of the Bulge, he was assigned to 3rd Corps Headquarters where he served until final discharge December 15, 1945 with rank of Captain. On July 30, 1942, he was united in marriage to Jean Arthur in Fayette.

He is survived by three children: James L. Fischer, Nevada; Nancy J. Montgomery, Claremore, Oklahoma; and Mary A. Fischer, Des Moines; 4 grandchildren; and a sister Mildred Clifford of Evansville, Indiana. He was preceded in death by his parents and two grandchildren.

In January 1941, Harold entered partnership with his father in the hardware, plumbing, and heating business. This business was sold in December of 1950 when he was briefly employed as a salesman for A.Y. McDonald Manufacturing Company in Waterloo. He then started his own insurance and real estate business which continued until 1978. He continued in real estate until the present time.

From 1959 through 1974, Harold served in the Iowa General Assembly, representing Butler, Tama, Marshall, Black Hawk, Franklin, and Grundy counties. During the period December 1945 until 1985, he served in various offices, including 3rd District American Legion County Commander several times, and post Adjutant and service officer, and Grundy County 40&8. He was a member of Wellsburg Community Club and Grundy County Fat Hog group.

He was confirmed in St. John's Lutheran Church in Des Moines on Palm Sunday 1940 and was later reconfirmed at St. John's Lutheran Church in Wellsburg in September 1940, where he served in various offices.

Funeral services were held on Wednesday, December 18 at 1:30 p.m. at the St. John's Lutheran Church. Burial was in the Shiloh Township Cemetery in Wellsburg. Military rites AmVet Post #91 and American Legion Post #213 Wellsburg were held.

The Doyen Abels Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.

--The Grundy Register/Wellsburg Herald (Grundy Center, Iowa), 19 December 1991, pg 18