The Family Shepherd

If anyone knows the history of the 7 surviving Fisher children they know that when they were very young they were split up and adopted by various relatives.  They grew up in diverse locations with some in different states and ended up as adults as far away from Nebraska as Washington State to Maryland and Virginia.  The baby of the family, Ken, in the summer of 1976 became the Fisher Family Shepherd.  A “shepherd – not only gathers his sheep but watches over them carefully.”  This is what Ken did.  He accomplished what some might call the impossible by finding and contacting all the siblings and having them come with their families to his home for a week.  Some of them hadn’t seen the others for decades. In spite of this, they connected like it was yesterday.   Because of the Family Shepherd this family was once again united, the bonds became unbreakable and the tradition of regular reunions was established.  Now the Family Shepherd is united with those who have passed on including his beloved daughter Brooke.  In this way, his passing is bittersweet.  What will we who remain do without the Family Shepherd?  Who will gather us?  Who will watch over us? Can the remaining sisters and the next generation follow in his footsteps and continue to gather the family?   His sister Liz will miss their piano duos that lasted for 3 hours.  She said that “if there was an American Idol of brothers he would win the prize. ”  The things that we will remember about Ken are his generosity, his laugh that was a belly full.  “His whole body would move when he laughed and he would turn purple,” said Suzanne. His love of  his family, music, horses  and fun will always remain for us in our memory of him.  We are so grateful that we were in the same family with him and that  he shared his love and his life with us.  We know we are better human beings for it.  Thank you Ken.

Love,

Liz, Cheryl and Suzanne

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