William P. Fisher

William P. 'Bill', 77, of Bridgetown, passed away on October 1, 2017. He was born on February 11, 1940 in Massillon, Ohio where he graduated from Washington High School in 1958.
Bill is survived by his wife of 56 years, Melinda (Saurer), son Tim (Mary), grandsons Jon (girlfriend Kacie Ibold) and Alec, and his twin sister Sally Stevensen. He is also survived by brother-in-law John (Jan) Saurer, nieces Holly Saurer, Kim (Neal) Latham, Tami Fisher, Tally (Kurt) Hogue, Patty Schwarm and nephews Eric (Fernanda) Saurer and Loren (Denise) Stevensen.
Bill was preceded in death by his son John, brother and sister-in-law Tom and Marj Fisher, mother Betty Ream, stepfather Arthur Ream and nephew Tom Fisher, Jr.
After he graduated high school, Bill enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserves in 1958. He was honorably discharged from the Marines in 1965. He was proud of his service to the day he died and liked to joke that while he was an active Marine no outside force ever invaded the beaches of North Carolina.
Bill's working life began as a paper boy for the Massillon Evening Independent. He later worked for his hometown's local grocery Bordner's IGA. Bill was hired as a salesman for AC Spark Plug Division of General Motors - the job which brought him to Cincinnati for the first time. He worked for GM for 34 years when he retired as a Zone Sales Manager for AC-Delco Division. His employment with GM led him to many places in the Midwest, with stops after his first stint in Cincinnati that included Scott Depot, West Virginia, Cincinnati a second time, St. Charles, Missouri, Burnsville, Minnesota and Dublin, Ohio. After he retired from GM in Dublin, he took a job with KOI Auto Parts which brought him back to Cincinnati for the third time in his life. He retired from KOI as the General Manager for Advertising and Special Events after a 10 year employment. Anyone who knew Bill recognized immediately that he was a natural-born salesman, and he used those gifts to carve out a great career and make many friends along the way.
Each time Bill's career brought his family to Cincinnati, he lived in the Oak Hills School District. He was very involved with the Oak Hills Athletic Boosters and a huge supporter of Oak Hills Athletics in general. He served as Booster President while his sons attended Oak Hills and continued volunteering his time after they graduated. He filmed football games and kept the scorebook for the basketball team. While his grandsons attended school in the District he became a trusted advisor to the Athletic Department and served on several committees as a community representative. These included raising funds for the original synthetic turf at Rutenschroer/Mayer Field and interviewing/advising during the hiring of coaches. For his efforts he was honored as an inductee into the Oak Hills Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013. He supported the programs until his passing – having attended a freshman football game to watch his grandson Jon coach a week before he died.
Bill was an unwavering fan of the Massillon Tigers, the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Rose-Hulman Fighting Engineers (where he was able to watch both his son Tim and grandson Alec play football – something that brought him great pride and joy), the UC Bearcats, the Cincinnati Bengals and Cincinnati Reds. It brought him great joy to discuss any of these teams with anyone who was interested – and probably even if they weren't.
Visitation is October 21 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the BJ Meyer Funeral Home, 5864 Bridgetown Rd., 45248. The Celebration of Life will follow at 2:00 p.m. at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Oak Hills Athletic Dept., 3200 Ebenezer Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45248.