Thomas Ward Hanson Fisher

February 13, 1962 ~ May 26, 2019

Tom died in his sleep early in the morning on the 26th of May at the age of 57 at the Minneapolis VA Health Care Center. Preceded in death by his father, H. William (Bill) Fisher, stepfather Norbert (Norb) Notch, grandparents, great uncles and aunts, uncles and aunt. Survived by his wife, Stephanie Hanson Fisher (née Hanson), stepchildren, Kaitlin (John) Defoor and Benjamin (Anissa Bruss) Grignon, mother, Charlotte Ann Fisher (née Ward), brother, Alexander (Butch) Fisher, parents-in-law, Richard and Kay Hanson, brother-in-law, Christopher (Cheryl) Hanson, sister-in-law, Sonja Hanson Stark, aunts, uncles, cousins, niece, and nephews.

Tom spent his youth and early adult years in Sauk Rapids and Saint Cloud. He was an escape artist as a toddler and never met a playpen he couldn't escape. He had an open grin and laugh when young and kept them throughout his life. He also started his traveling young when he escaped the fenced in yard and made it several blocks from home before a policeman brought him home.

Tom graduated from Sacred Heart Grade School, Sauk Rapids, John XXIII Middle School and Cathedral High School, Saint Cloud, and Saint Cloud State University (SCSU). Through the University, he studied at Alnwick Castle, England in the exchange program and taught English as a Second Language in Japan. He lived and worked in Paris, France. While living in Hawaii he enlisted in the Army, graduated from the Language Institute on the Presidio of Monterey, California, and Human Intelligence Collector training. He was stationed in West Germany before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall. He was also attached to the Bundeswehr for a period while stationed in Germany. After service, he worked for Facet Technology, collecting imagery with a ground-based vehicle to create digital maps of roadways in the U.S. and Canada for use by government assessors and mapping companies with GPS. He drove through all the states including Alaska. During this time he developed cancer which was treated at Fairview in Minneapolis, MN and then at the Minneapolis VA.

Tom loved driving (which he got from his dad, Bill) and traveling, having been in every state (most with his wife Stephanie), many Canadian provinces, several countries in Europe, and Japan. He loved gadgets and tech, talking about and sometimes buying the latest thing. He studied history, like his father, and would talk about all the circumstances that led to some historical occurrence. He loved animals, having had a hamster and several cats and dogs in his life. He loved his family, in his understated way, as well as friends, and would gladly help family, friends, and strangers out. Tom was able to start a conversation with just about anyone, anywhere.

His memorial get together and remembrance will be on Monday, June 3, 2019, from 3pm to 6pm at VFW Post 4847, 104 Franklin Avenue NE, Saint Cloud, MN

Tom will be missed terribly.