Kitson Overmyer Fisher

Wednesday evening, Jan. 28, 2015, while soft Hawaiian music played, 90-year-old Kitson Overmyer Fisher of Fountain Hills quietly slipped away.

Several years earlier she had suffered a stroke while dreaming she was on her way to a party. She had spent the years since incessantly trying to get to that party. Now she finally got to go, leaving the Alzheimer’s behind.

A funeral service will be held Friday, July 31, at 10 a.m. at the United States Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis, Md. Final internment will be Monday, Aug. 3, 2015 at 10 a.m. at Arlington National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, 1030 2nd Avenue, Fairbanks, AK 99701.

Born June 14, 1924 into a lively Irish-German family of five brothers in Columbus, Ohio, to William and Rhea Scott Overmyer, she graduated from Grandview High School (the class of 1942) where she was a cheerleader and yearbook editor; and attended several years at Ohio State.

On summer nights, in that pre-war era, she and teenage friends would dance to Glenn Miller music at the Grandview pool. In October of 1946, she married her grade and high school sweetheart, John (“Jack”) Richard Fisher of Columbus, a recent graduate of the United States Naval Academy. They were together for 59 years, until his death in 2005.

Together they traveled the world, she the hostess of the parties while he rose to the rank of Rear Admiral, in the Civil Engineering Corps of the Navy. She was the one in the center of the room, welcoming and telling the stories. Her eyes shined when she saw you. She loved her friends and reading mysteries and crossword puzzles and swimming and sending birthday cards and wearing the right hat and drinking coffee and dinner parties and laughter.

She had a childhood wish of becoming a private detective; and left still wanting to own a red sports car. She was the heart in the family. She probably never guessed how much of a role model and inspiration she was.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Jack; her parents, William and Rhea; four of her brothers and their spouses, Jack (Rose), Robert (Lee), Frederick (Billy Lou), Richard (Gloria, Stella); her grandson Shane; several nephews; their childhood friend Jack R. Anderson; and others.

She is survived by her brother, William (Sonya) of Plymouth, Minn.; her children, Lani Fisher Browning (Charlie) of Maryland and the Rev. Scott Fisher of Alaska; four grandchildren, Charleen (Darryl) and Rebecca (Matthew) of Alaska, Skylar (Nicole) of Montana, and Lilia Browning Cohen (Matt) of Washington, D.C.; 10 great grandchildren, Shelby, Julia, Allyson, Shani, William, Annabella, Oliver, Penelope, Lucca and Aliza; numerous nephews and nieces, including Suzi Overmyer of New Jersey and Kitson Overmyer Cromwell of New Orleans; and many many more.

Her children especially thank the family and staff of Fountain View Village of Fountain Hills for their love and care these last years.