Dennis George Fisher

Dennis Fisher
Altoona, Iowa

Dennis George Fisher passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his family on April 10, 2026.

He was born July 11, 1943 in Des Moines and attended Des Moines Technical High School until age 16, at which time he joined the Marine Corps. He served for 5 years, stationed for two in Hawaii and two in Japan, earning his black belt in karate and learning several Japanese words that remained permanently in his vernacular. Not always an angel, Dennis stole a Jeep and crashed it, but escaped punishment; it was the Marine’s birthday, so they let him off the hook. After finishing his service stateside, Dennis returned to Iowa and met one of his sister Roberta’s best friends, Chris Burget. They had their first date at the Drake Relays where he asked for one kiss for every record broken…and just about every event included a broken record! After locking down his girl, Dennis attended Iowa State University on the GI Bill and graduated with a degree in engineering. Then, he worked for several local firms before starting his own business, Fisher Sales & Engineering, in Altoona.

Dennis was considered by many of his peers to be a theoretical engineering genius who invented a number of revolutionary products of varying significance, including the largest video assist plate mounter in the world for flexographic printing, a pepper berry sterilization plant that many insisted was impossible, a legendary advanced version of 500 rummy, and the world’s first pair of golf sandals, improvised with a set of rivets from his shop. As the sandals made no noticeable improvement to his golf game, Dennis unfortunately abandoned the project, leaving the market wide open for Nike to swoop in and corner two decades later.

Dennis was immensely proud of the family he and Chris created together for 58 years. He spent countless hours teaching his children and grandchildren to play cards. By age four, all of them had learned to audit his point counts with extreme skepticism. Dennis was also a man of faith, trying always to live as he felt God wanted him to. He had no regrets in life, although he could have been “a little taller, a little thinner, and a little better-looking.”

He is survived by his wife, Christine (Burget) Fisher; children, Doug (Denee) Fisher of Omaha, Lisa (Donnie) Wilson of Kansas City, Maggie (Gary) Schlerman of Pella, Rob (Margie) Fisher of Omaha, and Jill (Daniel) Fisher de Alayola of Altoona; sister Roberta (Bruce) Powers of Norwalk; niece Niki (Aaron Henry) Fisher of Des Moines; daughter-in-law Caryl (Lehmkuhl) Fisher of Carter Lake; 13 grandchildren; 5 great-grandchildren and numerous cousins.

He was preceded in death by his father, Robert Boyd Fisher; mother Nina Pearl (Reed) Fisher; stepmother Ruth Fisher; brother Alan Boyd Fisher and sister-in-law JoAnn Fisher.

There will be a Celebration of Life on Monday, April 20, 2026 at Terrace Hills Event Center, 8700 NE 46th Ave., Altoona. A remembrance service will be held from 4:30-5:00 p.m. with visitation afterword until 7:00 p.m.

Memorial contributions can be made to Caring Hands in Altoona, Mercy One Hospice in Des Moines, or your local food pantry.

Online condolences may be expressed at www.hamiltonsfuneralhome.com

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