Longtime Talkeetna, Alaska resident Mike Fisher died at his home on Feb 8, 2009, surrounded by friends and family.
Mike was born to Thomas and Anne Fisher in Detroit, on Apr 7, 1936. He grew up in Kalkaska, where he graduated from high school in 1954, retaining many local friendships in the area.
He studied at Northrop Aeronautical Institute in California, before joining the Army in 1959, where he served as a maintenance crew chief for deHavilland Beaver Aircraft in the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, KY. During this time, Mike acquired his pilot's license and later earned his certified flight instructor/ instrument rating and certificate.
He moved to Alaska in 1962 and worked, for a time, as an aircraft mechanic in Anchorage. Eventually, Mike moved to Talkeetna, where he became friends with bush pilot Don Sheldon, owner and operator of Talkeetna Air Service.
In the late 1960s, Mike filled in as a part time pilot and mechanic, ultimately becoming a trusted and valued employee of the air service. Another former Kalkaska resident, Lynn Twigg, was piloting for Sheldon at the time and Mike always credits Twigg for inspiring his interest in flying and for bringing him to the Talkeetna area.
In Talkeetna, Mike met and married Suzanne Guimares, a graduate of Cornell University. She shared his affinity for the outdoors, bicycle riding, hiking, gardening, reading, and generally living a quiet and uncomplicated life in the small community they both loved.
Together they build two log cabins, using the portable mill Mike invented and patented. Suzanne died in 1991 and thereafter, Mike's chief pleasure became bicycling on the many different back roads of the world.
He shared his journal of one of those trips with a number of friends in Alaska, Michigan, and other venues.
Fisher was known for his machinist skills and operated his own business, Talkeetna Machine Shop until the time of his death. He was also a philanthropist, supporting the Denali Arts Council, the Talkeetna Nordic Ski Club, the Talkeetna Public Library, Habitat for Humanity and local food banks, as well as mentoring and assisting a number of younger people in various ways.
Survivors include his sister, Margot Dorn-Dutcher; nieces, Kate Phillips and Nancy Szejbach; nephews, Mike Dorn and Tom Dutcher - all of the Alpena, MI area; and nieces, Kathy Allen of Palmer Lake, CO and Sally Klein of Colorado Springs, as well as several cousins.
At Mike's request, his ashes have been scattered in places that he and Suzanne loved.
