Rev. George W. Fisk Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Rev. George W. Fisk after a long illness was peacefully released from this life July 16, 2012 at the age of 92 in Kalamazoo. Cremation has taken place. Family visitation will be at 1pm, Friday, August 10, followed by a memorial service at 2pm at the First Congregational Church of St. Joseph, MI. Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Dey-Florin Chapel, Florin Funeral Service of St. Joseph. Memorials can be made to the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation (alzinfo.org) or the First Congregational Church of St. Joseph. Please share messages, memoires or photos at www.florin.net. Born the fifth generation of his family in Green Bay, WI in 1920, George won a Bausch and Lomb prize for being the best math student in his high school. He was active in Boy Scouts, achieving the rank of Eagle. He graduated from Lawrence College, Appleton, WI in 1941. He initially majored in physics, changing to English at the beginning of his sophomore year. A member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, he was dubbed “professor” as one of three in “the brain trust” which upheld the fraternity’s academic average. An avid athlete, he swam on the varsity swim team, ran the hurdles on the track team and was a founding member of the Aquatic Club. Instead of entering the family insurance business, he felt called to serve as a minister. He completed his college education at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He met the love of his life, Jean Sweetman, at a Christian education class there. They were married in 1942. His career in the Congregational (later United Church of Christ) Church started in Spring Valley, NY, then took him to Omaha, NE, Wichita, KS, Rapid City, SD, and finally St. Joseph, MI, where he was senior minister from 1964 to 1984. He was awarded honorary degrees by Yankton College of Yankton, SD, and Olivet College in Michigan. He strived to put the Bible in the context of both ancient and modern times to bring out the deeper meaning of its passages. His adult education class in St. Joseph was always well-attended. He was a leader in the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship, both locally and at the state and national level. He was a pioneer in the use of bio-feedback techniques to alleviate pain and other ailments. He remained an active member of the St. Joseph/Benton Harbor Rotary Club well into retirement. He loved music, especially classical and jazz, and played piano, organ, baritone horn, and sang. He was very fond of a good laugh, even in his sermons. He enjoyed traveling and was an avid photographer. Some local residents may remember the beautiful slide presentation on the cathedrals of Europe he and Jean created following a sabbatical trip to France and Germany. He spent several years studying conversational Greek for both reading and traveling. He was a huge fan of his home-town football team, the Green Bay Packers. After retirement at age 65, he started a publishing business, Cosmic Concepts Press. His goal was to provide books with positive spiritual influence. He published nine books (two of which he authored) before his health began to interfere. Always an avid reader, he authored many book reviews for amazon.com. Although he was diagnosed with heart disease in his sixties, he adopted a strict program of restricted diet and daily walking, swimming and tennis to improve his health. As a result, surgery was never needed. His wife, Jean, died in 2001 at the age of 85. He is survived by four children, Kate (Richard) Schultz of Las Cruces, NM, Jonathan (Pat) Fisk of St. Joseph, Cynthia (Don) Sweeter of Plainwell and Molly (Mark) Kehoe of Grand Rapids, sister-in-law Marcia (George) Caldwell, eight grandchildren, four step-grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren as well as numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father,Earl, mother, Marion, brother, William, sister, Charlotte Astor and granddaughter, Rachel Fisk.

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Rev. George W. Fisk

February 26, 1920 - July 16, 2012