A ham friend of mine sent me the obituary of an old friend---Here it is. R.I.P. Bill. William J. Fisher, Jr. of St. Augustine, Florida, and former long-time resident of Armonk, New York, died on August 25. He was 97. Mr. Fisher was born in New York City to William and Agnes Fisher. He graduated from Townsend Harris High School and attended City College. During World War II, he served as Flight Radio Officer on trans-Atlantic routes for Pan American Airways, the Army Transport Service (ATS), and the Navy Air Transport Service (NATS). In 1944 he married Doris Lewis of Armonk, New York. Mr. Fisher was an active amateur radio operator (W2OC). In the 1960's, he worked for Grumman Aircraft in Bethpage, New York and help to design the communications system for the lunar excursion module (LEM) for the Apollo 11 mission. He retired in 1980 from the Westchester County Office of Disaster and Emergency Services where he was Communications Officer. In addition to his wife Doris, he is survived by his sister, Kit Nill, of Sequim, Washington, a son, William "Buff" Fisher (Lynda) of Armonk, New York, a daughter, Kathryn Schirmacher (Andrew) of St. Augustine, Florida, two grandchildren and two great grandchildren. The family wishes to express their heartfelt gratitude to the staff of Vitas Hospice during our father's final days. A private celebration of his life will be planned for a future date. Published in St. Augustine Record on Sept. 1, 2018
Very sorry to hear about Bill Fisher. I knew him well from Westchester County. I lived in Hawthorne, NY and met Bill in the local radio club. He was always open for visits as I worked at the Westchester County Airport, which was only a few miles away. Will miss him. Regards, Bob, W2IKN
I wish to tribute Bill Fisher, who though I haven't seen for many years was a fine man, and I had until recent times been on the air on HF/VHF/UHF from White Plains, NY, ofter contacting his son Buff Fisher not far away in Armonk, NY. I knew Dad was in St. Augustine, FL, and Bill was over 90 years old. We, Marylyn, KC2NKU, and I stayed over at St. Augustine, on the way down to here to visit relatives in SE Florida, just by coincidence. My Father, Helmut Nahl, knew Bill from GPL in Pleasantville, NY where my Father worked from 1957 to 1976, until his retirement. I did with the Air Force ROTC while at NYU in the Bronx visit Grumman on Long Island in 1967 and was able to look in the mock-up of the Lunar Module. So to Buff and the whole family our deepest condolences from us here in Florida. Raymond Martin-W2CH, formerly Raymond Nahl (WA2ZPD, WB7EGN, WB1BTO, V25CH)
I’m sorry to be learning of Bill’s passing. We worked together at WFOY in St. Augustine. He was a fascinating guy! On 9/11, he was able to get a message thru to someone in New York for someone at Flagler College. Years later, when my now-wife & I we’re dating, we went down to St. Augustine & saw Bill & his wife who were very gracious! R.I.P. Bill!
