Dick and I shared simple joys together growing up as scouts, classmates, and good friends. I last saw Dick on the St. Olaf campus our sophomore year. His later life seemed cloaked in mystery. I did know he was a pilot and am sure others know more.
He and his family were always very kind. I remember dinners at their home and learning to eat shrimp. I recall being invited to his home with other boys and girls to be taught how to dance by his very patient mother (5th grade?). I remember his father coming to our home and giving me penicillin shots when I was sick. What I remember best, however were the interesting things we did together.
One particular memory stands out. In 5th or 6th grade, we had a very snowy Minot winter that oscillated between blizzards and sunny afternoons, often with deep snow. One afternoon without his parents or brother home, we went up to Dick's room (three floors above ground because of an exposed basement), took off the window screen, and jumped out the back window several times into the drifts below. We were not caught. That house and the only photo I have of Dick (age 8-9) are pasted below.
After I moved to Valley City, Dick and I arranged to meet again at Camp Cormorant near Alexandria, MN. The camp was stormed one night by Viking marauders (likely counselors, dressed to scare). Lots of fun at that meeting too!
Richard C. Fischer died Sunday as a result of injuries sustained in a plane crash at Glendive, Montana. Following a private graveside ceremony in Rosehill Memorial Park, there was a memorial service on Friday at 2:00 PM in First Lutheran Church, Minot.
He was one of four from Minot killed in the plane crash: Linda Bray, 31, and her daughters, Paula Bray, 11, and Brenda Bray, 9.
He was born January 26, 1943, in St. Paul, Minnesota to Dr. V.J. and Ruth Fischer. He came with his family to Minot in 1945. He attended school in Minot and graduated from Minot High School in 1961. He attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota for a year and then transferred to the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks and graduated from UND in 1966. He served in the Army from 1966 to 1968 and then was employed as a pilot for Northwest Airlines until 1977. He lived in Jordan, Minnesota for several years before returning to Minot in 1981. He once was married to Linda Broz.
He was a memeber of First Lutheran Church, the Rotary Club, the Elks Lodge and the Dakota Territory Air Museum, all in Minot.
Survivors: son, Richard Clark Fischer II, West St. Paul, Minnesota; daughter, Katherine Ruth Marie Fischer, West St. Paul; (parents at that time); sister Peggy Fischer-Moe, Minot; brothers, Dr. John R. Fischer, Reno, Nevada, Dr. Mark W Fischer, Donthan, Alabama.
The family asked that memorials be to the First Lutheran Church Foundation or Organ Fund, the Dakota Territory Air Museum or to a charity of the donor's choice.
additional:
(my editing from the Minot Daily New from May 17 or shortly after)
Richard Fischer, 49, the plane's pilot, and three passengers were dead at the scene according to Dawson County Sheriff James George. The accident occurred shortly after takeoff under clear skies around 11:30 a.m., about 500 feet east of the airfield. Glendive is located in east-central Montana about 30 miles from the North Dakota border.
Fischer made several passes over the airport, George said, before engaging in what witnesses described as a vertical maneuver with the single-engine plane.
"Apparently the plane stalled and they didn't have enough altitude to ger he back under control," said George.
Keith McGuire, regional director of the National Transportation Safety Board said information is "pretty preliminary," but he tentatively identified the plane as a Mooney Mark 20 - a popular general aviation craft.
McGuire said the investigation is continuing. Kurt Anderson, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator from Seattle (was) on the scene.
Fischer and his passengers were making their return trip to Minot from a Glendive fly-in breakfast, sponsored by the Montana Pilots Association.
The event annually draws scores of pilots and passengers for a variety of aviation activities.
Sheriff George described Fischer as a "very qualified and experienced pilot."
Bray, a reistered nurse, was the daughter of Larry and Jalene Nordstrom of Minot. She was employed at both the Pediatric Unit of Trinity Medical Center and the office of Minot Pediatrician Dr. Richard Dormont.
Her daughters attended Edison Elementary School.
Their father and Bray's former husband, Ted Bray, lives in Minot.
Warren Olson
Dick and I shared simple joys together growing up as scouts, classmates, and good friends. I last saw Dick on the St. Olaf campus our sophomore year. His later life seemed cloaked in mystery. I did know he was a pilot and am sure others know more.
He and his family were always very kind. I remember dinners at their home and learning to eat shrimp. I recall being invited to his home with other boys and girls to be taught how to dance by his very patient mother (5th grade?). I remember his father coming to our home and giving me penicillin shots when I was sick. What I remember best, however were the interesting things we did together.
One particular memory stands out. In 5th or 6th grade, we had a very snowy Minot winter that oscillated between blizzards and sunny afternoons, often with deep snow. One afternoon without his parents or brother home, we went up to Dick's room (three floors above ground because of an exposed basement), took off the window screen, and jumped out the back window several times into the drifts below. We were not caught. That house and the only photo I have of Dick (age 8-9) are pasted below.
After I moved to Valley City, Dick and I arranged to meet again at Camp Cormorant near Alexandria, MN. The camp was stormed one night by Viking marauders (likely counselors, dressed to scare). Lots of fun at that meeting too!
Carroll Rasch
RICHARD CLARK FISCHER
Born: January, 1943
Died: May 17, 1992 at the age of 49.
edited from the Minot Daily News:
Richard C. Fischer died Sunday as a result of injuries sustained in a plane crash at Glendive, Montana. Following a private graveside ceremony in Rosehill Memorial Park, there was a memorial service on Friday at 2:00 PM in First Lutheran Church, Minot.
He was one of four from Minot killed in the plane crash: Linda Bray, 31, and her daughters, Paula Bray, 11, and Brenda Bray, 9.
He was born January 26, 1943, in St. Paul, Minnesota to Dr. V.J. and Ruth Fischer. He came with his family to Minot in 1945. He attended school in Minot and graduated from Minot High School in 1961. He attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota for a year and then transferred to the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks and graduated from UND in 1966. He served in the Army from 1966 to 1968 and then was employed as a pilot for Northwest Airlines until 1977. He lived in Jordan, Minnesota for several years before returning to Minot in 1981. He once was married to Linda Broz.
He was a memeber of First Lutheran Church, the Rotary Club, the Elks Lodge and the Dakota Territory Air Museum, all in Minot.
Survivors: son, Richard Clark Fischer II, West St. Paul, Minnesota; daughter, Katherine Ruth Marie Fischer, West St. Paul; (parents at that time); sister Peggy Fischer-Moe, Minot; brothers, Dr. John R. Fischer, Reno, Nevada, Dr. Mark W Fischer, Donthan, Alabama.
The family asked that memorials be to the First Lutheran Church Foundation or Organ Fund, the Dakota Territory Air Museum or to a charity of the donor's choice.
additional:
(my editing from the Minot Daily New from May 17 or shortly after)
Richard Fischer, 49, the plane's pilot, and three passengers were dead at the scene according to Dawson County Sheriff James George. The accident occurred shortly after takeoff under clear skies around 11:30 a.m., about 500 feet east of the airfield. Glendive is located in east-central Montana about 30 miles from the North Dakota border.
Fischer made several passes over the airport, George said, before engaging in what witnesses described as a vertical maneuver with the single-engine plane.
"Apparently the plane stalled and they didn't have enough altitude to ger he back under control," said George.
Keith McGuire, regional director of the National Transportation Safety Board said information is "pretty preliminary," but he tentatively identified the plane as a Mooney Mark 20 - a popular general aviation craft.
McGuire said the investigation is continuing. Kurt Anderson, a National Transportation Safety Board investigator from Seattle (was) on the scene.
Fischer and his passengers were making their return trip to Minot from a Glendive fly-in breakfast, sponsored by the Montana Pilots Association.
The event annually draws scores of pilots and passengers for a variety of aviation activities.
Sheriff George described Fischer as a "very qualified and experienced pilot."
Bray, a reistered nurse, was the daughter of Larry and Jalene Nordstrom of Minot. She was employed at both the Pediatric Unit of Trinity Medical Center and the office of Minot Pediatrician Dr. Richard Dormont.
Her daughters attended Edison Elementary School.
Their father and Bray's former husband, Ted Bray, lives in Minot.