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Rob Fisher

 

Rob Fisher

We were saddened to learn that our classmate Rob Fisher passed away on 7 February 2023. Included below is an obituary written by his brother Tony.

Robert Albee Fisher
December 1, 1953 – February 7, 2023

Robert Albee Fisher ("Rob" to everyone) was the first surviving child of Robert Gates Fisher and Mabelle Hurlbut Rose Fisher. Both parents were descendants of Yankee forebears who emigrated from England during the Great Migration of the 1630s to Massachusetts and Maine. His forebears on both sides were combatants in the Revolutionary War and Civil War; his maternal grandfather was appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt to serve as the first Assistant Secretary of the United States Senate; his father served as a US Army officer in both World War II and the Korean Conflict; his mother served as a foreign language interpreter for a while for the US State Department. Unsurprisingly, with this heritage and as a child growing up during the Cold War, Rob possessed a desire to serve his country, which he did during the majority of his career.

Rob grew up in Narberth, Pa. At age six, he was successfully treated for a childhood cancer using a then-novel protocol at Philadelphia's Children's Hospital, involving both x-ray and chemotherapy. He entered the Episcopal Academy in the third grade (Class of 1972), where, in his senior year, he was honored for his character and scholarship by being invited to be one of the school's four EA ambassadors to study at the all-girl Shipley School, as both schools considered moving towards co-education. He attended Haverford College, and lived at home so he could help care for his mother during a long illness. He took two years off from college to work, and graduated in 1978 with dual degrees in Economics and Mathematics. At Episcopal, he played on the Varsity soccer team as goaltender. His lifelong passion for golf saw him playing for both Episcopal's and Haverford's Varsity Golf teams.

Following his mother's passing in 1982, Rob married Dianne Coady, a Bryn Mawr College alumna, and they lived in the home he grew-up in. The couple divorced amicably in the late 1990s.

While working on the classified side of General Electric Aerospace in the early 1980s — where, he once shared, he helped steer US intelligence satellites — Rob earned his Master of Science in Engineering from the Moore School of Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Rob spent the next portion of his career working to develop large-scale database solutions for the pharmaceutical and other industries. In 2006, Rob joined Lockheed-Martin for the balance of his career, where he worked on very large scale database systems architecture and maintenance solutions for the intelligence community. He loved his work, and lived the notion that "The Mission Comes First."

In July, 2000, Rob married Cindi DeAlba Camarda, of Newport News, Va., a Business Systems Analyst at Vanguard. The couple moved to Phoenixville in 2005. Rob became a devoted, involved second father to Cindi's children from her first marriage, Amanda, Dennis, and Daniel, and second grandfather to their children. Rob took delight in his new family, which was so much larger than his own. Rob, Cindi, their kids, and later, their childrens' respective families, enjoyed many years of golf and time spent at their second home on Tilghman Island, Maryland, where they loved boating and fishing on the Chesapeake. Rob loved dogs, and was lucky to have many wonderful ones in his life. Rob also delighted in following the lives of his brother, Tony's, children, JG and Ian, who lived in California, and later, Oregon.

Rob passed following complications after an unexpected open heart surgery at the age of 69. He is survived by the wife he adored, Cindi DeAlba Camarda, her children, Amanda, Dennis and Daniel, their children, his brother, Tony, of Lake Oswego, Oregon, and his children.

A memorial service was held at 11 AM on Friday, February 17th, 2023 at the Chapel of the Episcopal Academy, 1785 Bishop White Drive, Newtown Square, PA 19073.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia at chop.edu.



Disclaimer: This information is intended only for members of the class of 1972.
Last updated at 2023-02-17 at 12:36 EST

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