Judith Ann Fischer

Judith Ann Fischer, 81, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, friend, colleague and babysitter passed away unexpectedly on September 5, 2021, in Concord Township, Ohio.

Her family, friends and community will gather for a Celebration of Life from 2 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, October 10, at the Concord Township Community Center located at 7671 Auburn Road in Concord Township. At 3 p.m., family and friends will share their memories of Judy. Her family invites you to join them for a meal at the community center immediately following the shared remarks. At her request, no funeral will be held.

Judy, as she was known to her friends and family, was born on June 1, 1940, to Elizabeth (née Kozel) and Samuel Palumbo in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. When she was young, her family moved to Northeast Ohio and she attended Lincoln Elementary School, Wickliffe Junior High School, and Kirtland Schools where – in the eighth grade – she met her future husband, Michael Paul Fischer. Judy and Mick attended Kirtland High School, where she discovered she had extraordinary typing and stenography skills. They dated throughout high school and, after graduating in 1958, Mick enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and left Ohio for boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, and Judy left to work as a secretary at The Pentagon in Washington, D.C., for a Naval admiral. They were married on May 2, 1959.

Judy loved many things in life, but she especially loved her family and friends, the ocean, traveling, quilting and children. She is remembered as kind, loving, wise, funny, loyal, feisty, determined, smart, generous and always up for an adventure.

When she was 19 and newly married, she and Mick moved to California for the first of many adventures they shared throughout their 62-year marriage. They had three children: Michael (“Mickey”), Michelle (“Shelley”), and Danielle. In late 1964, they returned to Northeast Ohio to raise their family. Judy was primarily a stay-at-home mother until 1971 when she applied for and was hired as the school secretary at Longfellow Elementary School in Eastlake, Ohio.

Judy worked at Longfellow for 30 years and touched the lives of many students and staff. She would often recognize the faces and know the names of former students when they came to the school years later to enroll their own children. When she retired on February 28, 2001, Principal Tim Hamman planned a daylong celebration of her career that included a limousine ride to work, 30 roses, an all-school assembly and an open house. In addition, the mayor officially proclaimed it “Judy Fischer Day” in Eastlake and the school office was dedicated in her name.

Judy learned to quilt during those years, and she crafted and gave handmade quilts to people she loved ― her family members, her friends (and to their children and grandchildren) and even to people she didn’t know. When asked, she would happily make a quilt for a complete stranger if they were the friend of a family member or a friend of a friend. Upon learning of her passing, many people reached out to her family to tell them that they were wrapping themselves in a “Judy Quilt” for comfort in their grief.

Upon retirement, Judy would go back to Longfellow to help when they needed her, but she began a “second career” that brought her immeasurable joy by babysitting for her daughter Shelley’s friends and colleagues. To say she babysat is an understatement; she was the “baby whisperer.” Judy helped raise 15 children over the course of 19 years, most of them in their infancy through their toddler and pre-school years. She loved the Nemeckay, McGraw, Braun, Celek and Kidner families greatly and was honored and delighted to be a part of their lives. They called her “FoFo” and returned that love to her tenfold.

She was an enthusiastic grandmother to Michael and Sean Fischer, taking them on adventures throughout the United States and instilling in them a love of Disney World, Rehoboth Beach, Cedar Point and travel in general. She taught them how to sew, craft, cook and look at the world with a sense of adventure. She loved them with all of her heart and life was good with Grandma.

Judy learned to sew at an early age and she made her own clothes in high school. She also made her daughters’ school and doll dresses when they were young. She later used these skills to make dresses for a charitable organization that served underprivileged girls in Appalachia. She bought an embroidery sewing machine and t-shirts in all sizes and made customized t-shirts, with a heavy emphasis on Disney characters for families on their way to Disney World. But she would embroider anything for anyone. She also made and donated “Quilts of Valor” for service members returning home from war and helped make prayer shawls for a friend’s church.

In addition to her husband Mick, she is survived by her children Mickey Fischer (Kathy), Shelley Fischer and Danielle Fischer; grandson Sean Fischer (Lacey); sister Carolyn Mills; sisters-in-law Sandra Lockhart Fischer and Dolores “Dolly” Harrington; nieces Kimberly Seek, Jaquenette Howser, Leslie Bakeer, Brandi Fischer (Greg Smith), and Alicia Fischer (Brandon Owens). She was preceded in death by her mother Elizabeth, father Samuel, grandson Michael Fischer, daughter-in-law Laurie (née Boyer) Fischer, and brother-in-law Timothy Fischer.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, the “My Stuff Bags” foundation, or the “Shoes That Fit” organization.