Ronald Jay Fisher, formerly of Ketchum, Idaho, died April 3, 2009, in Salt Lake City of metastatic melanoma.
Ron was born Jan. 31, 1944, in Cedar City, Utah, the son of Jay N. and Carmen Carpenter Fisher. He graduated from BYU in 1974 with a youth leadership degree and from ISU in 1982 with an electronics degree. He married Carol Listak in 1967. Ron, Carol and their three children lived for some time in the Wood River Valley where Ron worked for The Elephant's Perch. After the marriage ended in 1981, Ron relocated to the Salt Lake City area.
Ron was an avid mountaineer, rock climber and backcountry skier. He spent much of his free time in the backcountry with friends, his son or on his own, and taught rock climbing and backcountry skiing to novices. At one time, he owned his own motorcycle shop, and managed or worked for several mountaineering and bicycle shops. For the last decade, he worked in the electronics field.
Ron was a Good Samaritan by nature. For over a decade he volunteered his evenings to teach English as a second language to refugees and low-income immigrants at the Guadalupe School in Salt Lake City. He gave generously to the Utah Food Bank and to homeless shelters. He never passed a motorist in distress without offering aid, never missed an opportunity to lend a helping hand and never failed to lift and encourage others with a kind word.
Throughout his life, Ron maintained his activity within the LDS Church.
He is survived by his parents, Jay and Carmen Fisher of Kaysville, Utah; children, Jonathan Fisher (Petrina), Maggie Shipley (Derek) of Seattle, Wash., and Jill-Morgan Fisher of Boise; grandchildren, Jack Henry and Ava Rose Shipley; and his brother and sister, Rand and Deborah. His former wife, Carol (Fisher) Doyle lives in Hailey.
Funeral services for Ron were held in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, April 7, with burial in the Wasatch Lawn Cemetery. In his memory, Ron requested that friends donate to the Guadalupe School, 340 S. Goshen St., Salt Lake City, UT 84104, or to the Utah Food Bank, 1025 South 700 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84104, or utahfoodbank.org)
