Karl D. Fisk
A skilled optometrist, whose name has become
a household word in northeastern Iowa and who is deserving of the
confidence and esteem in which he is held by all with whom he has
come in contact, is Karl D. Fisk, who was born in Mendota, Lasalle
county, Illinois, November 3, 1869, the son of Andrew Jackson and
Mary (Hill) Fisk, both natives of Connecticut. His paternal
grandfather, William A. Fisk, was of fine old Pilgrim stock who
built the first silk factory in America, it being located at
Mansfield, Connecticut. William A. Fisk later came west and opened a
bank, also managed a general store and conducted a lumber business
in Malden, Bureau county, Illinois. He became quite well to do for
those early days, having come there in the early thirties, and
remained until his death. Karl Fisk’s maternal grandfather, John W.
Hill, came to Lasalle county, Illinois, where he engaged in farming.
He also came west in the early thirties, became wealthy and spent
his last days on the place which he homesteaded.
Andrew Jackson Fisk, father of Karl D. Fisk,
was educated first in the common schools, came west with his father
and completed his education in Bureau county, Illinois. He followed
painting and contracting in his early life, later farmed on a
general plan and was successful and influential in his neighborhood.
In 1903 he located in Guthrie county, Iowa, but in 1905 he moved to
West Union where he lived, retired, until his death in 1908. He was
a man who won respect of all who knew him by his upright life. His
widow is still living in West Union. Thirteen children were born to
them, nine of whom are still living, Karl D. Fisk, of this review,
being the eighth in order of birth.
Karl D. Fisk was educated in the high school
of Mendota, Illinois, and at the Ophthalmic College in Chicago,
where he made a splendid record and from which institution he was
graduated in 1890, after which he took up the practice of his
profession in Illinois, remaining for a time at several different
places, having his headquarters at Mendota, Lasalle county. In 1892
he came to Iowa and located in West Union, and from this city as his
head office he makes several cities in northeastern Iowa, in all of
which he has an excellent patronage, for he is thoroughly versed in
his profession, keeps advised on all up-to-date matters pertaining
to the same and he is a man of pleasing address, courteous, genial
and he has the happy faculty of making friends of his patients. He
is also vice-president of the Iowa Optical Company, located at Cedar
Rapids, Iowa.
Karl D. Fisk was married October 12, 1892,
to Lorena E. Farr, daughter of Levi L. Farr, a prominent citizen of
West Union. This union has resulted in the birth of three children,
Dorothy, Helen and Marjorie.
Karl D. Fisk is a thirty-second-degree
Mason, belonging to both the Scottish rite and the York rite. He is
past eminent commander of Langridge Commandery No. 47, Knights
Templar. He formerly belonged to the Knight of Pythias. He is a
member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Modern
Brotherhood of America.
Since 1897 Karl D. Fisk has been a member of
the American Association of Opticians, and he became a member of the
Iowa Association of Optometrists in 1903, the organization having
been started in 1898 and incorporated in 1908. In 1908 he was made
president of the Iowa Association of Optometrists, and he did many
things for the benefit of the organization, the most notable being
the securing of a law, passed by Legislature, that governs the
practice of optometry. He is influential in all these organizations
and is one of the best known optometrists in the state. |
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