Dean Emeritus Emil Fischer - 1907-2008

Emil C. Fischer, 100, of Peoria, Arizona, died Monday, March 24, 2008, at Bosworth Memorial Hospital in Sun City, Arizona.

Mr. Fischer was born on December 29, 1907, in Elizabeth, N.J. He received his Architectural Degree (1933) and a Masters in Architecture (1934) from Columbia University in New York City. He worked at many jobs during the Depression, including designing sets for Broadway shows. In 1936, he married Ruth Minarcik, to whom he was married for 62 years. In that year he also obtained his first faculty position as Assistant Professor in Design at Pratt Institute in New York City. This was the beginning of an academic career that would last 40 years. To earn extra income, he wrote a column for home repair enthusiasts for Home Craftsman magazine, a job he continued off and on for 25 years. During the war years, Mr. Fischer worked for Bell Laboratories where he used his skills to design and make technical drawings of war equipment such as bomber and tank interiors.

In 1945 Mr. Fischer became Head of Design at the Ohio State University, a position he filled for 10 years. In 1955 he became Professor and Head of the Department of Architecture and Allied Arts at Kansas State University. He was central in founding the University’s College of Architecture and Design - bringing landscape design, interior design, city planning and structural design all into one college - and became its first Dean. He retired as Dean in 1972 at the age of 65 but continued teaching courses in the college, including Appreciation of Architecture which he illustrated with pictures taken on his many travels. He retired from Kansas State in 1976 and moved to Sun City, Arizona.

During his time in Kansas, Mr. Fischer was elected and re-elected a member of the city council and served as Manhattan’s mayor. An excellent artist, Mr. Fischer had a special fondness for pen and ink drawings and watercolors. He put this to work illustrating, writing and publishing four books: The Churches of Manhattan and Vicinity (1975); Kansas State University: A Walk Through the Campus (first published in 1975 and continually updated); Churches of the Sun Cities (1987); and A Visit to Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch (1989). Mr. and Mrs. Fischer visited and supported the Ranch during the last 20 years of their lives. Mr. Fischer also provided the churches he drew with free originals of the drawings from which they could make note cards and other items to sell.

Mr. Fischer’s illustrations of President Eisenhower’s childhood home in Abilene, Kansas, were sold in the gift shop there. In Sun City he also illustrated Jubilee: The 25^th Anniversary of Sun City. He was a founding member of the Sun City Area Historical Society.

In 1994, he and his wife moved to The Forum at Desert Harbor, a retirement complex in Peoria. He was instrumental there in founding the Forum Chapel. He designed and had built the altar and a stained glass window. He played the organ before services until his 100^th birthday.

Mr. Fischer is survived by his sons Craig Fischer (Sandra) and Keith Fischer (Ann). Grandchildren include Emil L. Fischer, Lisa Fischer Aycock, Matthew L. Fischer, and Laura Fischer Gose. Great-grandchildren include Jenelle Fischer, Tyler Aycock, Juliette Aycock, Laila Gose and Sophia Gose.

A memorial service will be held at The Forum at Desert Harbor in Peoria, Arizona, on April 5, 2008 at 3:00 p.m. In his memory, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Forum Chapel, Kansas State University, or Cal Farley’s Boys and Girls Ranch.

PS - Anyone wishing to make a contribution to Kansas State University in memory of Dean Fischer should specify “Contribution for Emil Fischer, account C25450,” make the check payable to “Kansas State University Foundation,” and mail it to Kansas State University Foundation, 2323 Anderson Avenue, Manhattan KS 66502.