Otis Fisher

Otis Fisher was a soldier. He was born near Norman, Oklahoma on February, 25, 1923. In 1927, he and his older brother and two sisters were placed in an orphanage. He spent a short time there and was adopted by A.W. and Louise Fisher of Ames, Oklahoma in 1928. He lost track of his brother and sisters for many years. Otis was born again and joined Ames Baptist Church at a young age, and began to develop the skills early in life which would later make him such a fierce warrior. He finished high school with a grant for college, and in 1941 he entered John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. While there, he developed osteomylitis in his left ankle which would be a defining moment in his life. He was in the hospital in Enid Oklahoma for seven months, with many surgeries, intense pain, and a continual pack on his foot. This required intensive care, and the most outstanding of all the nurses was sent to his aid. Otis, being a fighting man, had a stern countenance, and some thought he was trouble, so they sent the one nurse they thought could handle him, Bernice Bull. She cared for him every day, and he slowly made a recovery, though he had a distinct gait the rest of his life. By the way, she married the soldier a few years later, in 1945, and they have been together 65 years. They had a baby girl in 1947, Beverly (Fisher West). Otis and Bernice raised Beverly in church, and she played piano during the services at Pecan Heights Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, where Otis was a young deacon. Much of Otis training for battle came under the tutelage of a master warrior, Bro. Barney Thames. After Beverly was grown and married, it was discovered she had an abnormality of the arteries in the brain, and she passed away after many years of struggle, at the age of 59. Otis and Bea had no grandchildren. However, God brought one to them about eleven years ago, when a little girl was born with seven problems that had to be cured with surgeries. Ms. Bea was chosen to watch over the little girl during the days of her recovery. Her name is Kenner Karpiak, and she had a special place in her heart for ?Uncle? Otis and Ms. Bea. Otis cherished every moment with her through the years as she grew up. Some did not realize it, but Otis began to secretly train this little girl to be a warrior, from a young age, and at the age of eleven, she is already a formidable fighter. He once asked her a difficult question during training, which she answered correctly. He asked, ?How did you know the answer?? She said, ?I just came with it.? This became one of Otis? favorite expressions. He attempted to find out what all his fighters ?came with.? Otis, being a warrior, faced many battles with dire circumstances, and cold, dark, and lonely days and nights. He faced an enemy that few people can face and survive?Otis was made stronger by each battle. He experienced many victories during his career, which few people knew of because they happened in secret places and were never made public. Due to his abilities, his Commander placed him as Captain over an elite group of soldiers, and he trained them daily for battle. He had a unique form of teaching, somewhat like Socrates. He would ask his disciples difficult, deep questions, requiring sometimes weeks to answer. Sometimes there were no answers, but in seeking the answer his disciples grew stronger, and more capable of understanding both their Commander, and their enemy. His younger soldiers would have followed him into any battle, no matter how difficult, and how often they were required to do so. Perhaps the most difficult battle for those of us who learned at his feet and fought with him, was the last one, on Sunday morning, June 6, 2010, for in this battle we lost our beloved leader. Otis was a soldier of the cross, an amazing teacher of the principles of the Word of God, and a leader of men who will leave behind a legacy of younger men and women, boys and girls, who have been equipped to engage in the supreme battle of spiritual warfare. Our beloved Otis, embrace our Commander Jesus, until we can arrive at the shores of our true home country, to be with you again. Otis had little known family of his own, but he had a large church family at Park Meadows Church in Corsicana, Texas, and family on his wife?s side, whom he loved, including Ed and Ina Adler of Caldwell, Idaho (Bea?s sister), Jesse Bull of Dallas (Bea?s brother), Wayne and Nita Curtis (Bea?s Nephew), and their sons Scott and Brad, all of the Dallas area, and Don and Fran Smith of Tahlequah, Oklahoma (Nephew). We all send our prayers to Otis? wife, best friend, and fellow warrior of 65 years, Bernice Fisher. A memorial service will be held for Otis Fisher at Park Meadows Church, 3401 Country Club Road, Corsicana, Texas, at 11:00 a.m. Sunday, June 27. Memorial book available www.griffin-roughton.com Arrangements by Griffin-Roughton Funeral Home, Corsicana.