From Seawinds Funeral Home & Crematory
Richard Chase Fisher, 94, Sebastian
October 12, 1926 – January 26, 2021
Richard Chase Fisher, 94, loving husband, father, grandfather and cool uncle died peacefully at home surrounded by loved ones on January 26.
Richard grew up in Brooklyn and on Long Island with stops in Endicott, NY and Oak Park, Illinois. He was a World War II veteran of the U.S. Army and the GI Bill took him to Penn State where he got his degree in fine arts in 1949. He was an accomplished artist and teacher in many mediums. He studied printmaking and received his Master’s from Teachers College, Columbia University and studied oil painting with Reuben Tam at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. He spent a long career in textile, packaging and corporate identity design. He taught textile design for industry for many years at the Fashion Institute of Technology (State University of New York) in New York City. His 1987 textbook TEXTILE PRINT DESIGN is still available on Amazon.
Richard found Polly, the love of his life and partner in art, in the creative Mecca that was New York City of the early 1960s. They were married on a hot summer day in 1965, honeymooned in Bermuda, and then spent six wonderful years on the Upper East Side of Manhattan before settling in Montrose, NY. It was there that son Dan was born in 1972 and they had years of family adventures camping in the Coleman pop-up camper, sailing the Hudson, and delighting together in scary movies. He continued to paint and create art of all kinds – from still life oil paintings, to watercolors of the river, to his wonderful fish on rice paper prints, all of which was frequently on display in galleries and at shows throughout the Hudson Valley.
Although Richard eventually retired from teaching, he never retired from creating. He was a lifelong spiritual seeker and student of psychology and theories of the mind which infused his art and life and came to fruition in his many series of “drawing meditations of the unconscious mind” which he called Mindworks (http://www.mindworksart.com/what-are-mindworks). He had many exhibitions and shows of these and his other artworks in and around their home in Sebastian, Florida.
But Polly and Dick were not reclusive artists. They were gracious hosts to countless friends and family including their beloved grandchildren who delighted in chasing the cats and frolicking in the pool. They served great hors d’ouevres and cocktails with rich conversations on the lanai at their home. He practiced meditation and yoga long before it was considered new age, found Kashi cereal before it was in the aisles of Whole Foods, and discovered before most of us that it was healthier to eat more fish and tofu than red meat. He was not an accomplished pianist but made up for it with enthusiasm and his distinctive style of humming loudly when his fingers couldn’t quite find the melody. We are all unique. Richard Chase Fisher (Uncle Dick) was especially so.
Richard was preceded in death by his brother Allen Fisher, his son Dan, sister in-law Ruth Fisher, sister and brother in-law JoAnn and Walter Ashley, and sister in-law Frieda Boyle. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Polly, his grandchildren Jonathan, Jason and Hudson, and nieces and nephews Fred Fisher, Eric Fisher, Nancy Fisher, Tom Fisher, Chris Ashley and Kay Jackson. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations go to the SPCA or your favorite animal shelter.