Dean Andrew Fischer, a long-time resident of Vashon, Washington, passed away June 3, 2023, in Longview, Washington.
Dean was born March 19, 1940, in Bismarck, North Dakota. He was the middle of three boys born to Adam and Elsie Hochhalter Fischer. He spent his early years in the Bismarck area. After graduating from Minot High School, he attended Minot State College, hoping to pursue a career in architecture.
In 1959 he moved to Seattle and immediately found employment at National Bank of Commerce, which eventually became Bank of America, where he remained employed for most of his working life. This is where he met his future wife, Nancy Nelson. They were married in Winthrop, Washington, in 1961. During this time period, he joined the U.S. Army Reserves where he served for 10 years.
Early in their married life, the couple bought property outside of Seattle, on Mercer Island. There they built a home, with Dean doing most of the construction work himself, with help from his father and brothers.
In 1970, Dean’s brother Duane and his wife Judy were killed in a plane crash, leaving three children. The children, Lynn, Lisa and Steven, came to live with Dean and Nancy on Mercer Island. In 1977, Nancy gave birth to a daughter, Lorelei, and the Fischer family was complete.
In 1979, they bought several acres of undeveloped land on Vashon Island, building a home they moved into in 1987.
Early in life Dean had enjoyed fishing and hunting, and was proud that he had successfully hunted with bow and arrow. In later years he took more pleasure from activities around the property and family. He enjoyed maintaining the land and house, organizing his extensive tool collection and teaching the grandkids how to drive the tractor. He was also very active in his genealogy, soliciting information and stories from his hundreds of cousins which he coalesced into books of the Fischer Family and the Hochhalter Family going back several generations.
Dean was predeceased by his brothers, Duane and Fran and his wife, Nancy. He is greatly mourned by his family and friends.
