Thomas J. Fisher

A Planner and a Doer
Carving the turkey. Slipping out for a round of golf. Taking his wife and three children to a Britney Spears concert. Not to mention working, as a vice president for operations at Fiduciary Trust Company International. How did Thomas J. Fisher, 36, get it all done?

"The Bible says God created our world in seven days," Mr. Fisher's brother-in-law, Chris O'Donnell, said in his eulogy. "I think Tom could have done it in six and still gotten 18 in along the way."

The Fisher family had the most meticulously mowed lawn in their Union, N.J., neighborhood, and Mr. Fisher insisted on painting the house himself. Twice. "He was on double ladders, hanging off a slate roof. I was panicking," said Susan Fisher, his wife. "But he wouldn't hire people to do things like that."

Mr. Fisher was a planner. "Get it on the calendar!" he would cry when friends proposed a tentative get-together. And on the calendar it got. "He exhausted me," said Mrs. Fisher, 38.

Now she is the one raking the lawn and shopping for groceries. "He left me with a three-month supply of paper towels," she said. "And big shoes to fill."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on November 24, 2001.


Thomas J. Fisher, meticulous Mr. Fix-it

Thomas J. Fisher of Union Township was as meticulous in working at home and at planning for leisure as he was at the office. He had the best-manicured lawn in the neighborhood and was always fixing things or organizing golf outings.

Mr. Fisher's 4-year-old daughter, Sarah, would say, "Daddy can fix anything."

Now his daughter is saying, "Daddy's up in heaven with God fixing a lot of things," said his wife, Susan Fisher.

Mr. Fisher, 36, vice president of operations at Fiduciary Trust International, died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. His office was on the 97th floor of the South Tower.

"He was good at what he did, and enjoyed doing it," Susan Fisher said.

"Our jobs are quite similar, we both work in the financial industry," said the employee of Pershing, a division of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp. in Jersey City.

"We commuted together," she added. "Every day we drove into Jersey City. That Tuesday was just like every other morning. We drove in, parked and he took the train to New York City. But that evening he did not come home."

She said she saw United Airlines Flight 175 crash into her husband's office building, and knew he could not have survived.

"I watched it first hand," she said. "He called when the first plane hit Tower One. He said he was looking straight at it. I asked if he was leaving his office, and he said it (the fire) was too far away and they were not going to evacuate.

"He called back a few minutes later and said they were moving down to the 90th floor," which the firm also occupied, she added. "Seconds later, the plane hit his building, and I knew that instant he wasn't coming home.

"He was a big sports fan, a fan of the Knicks and Mets," she said. "He took the kids to sporting events. He was very involved with all his children's lives. He was a devoted father, husband and son," she said.

Mr. Fisher was born in Glendale, Queens, N.Y., and moved to Union Township six years ago.

In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by his sons, Andrew, 11, and David, 8; his father, Gerald Fisher, and Fisher's wife, Judy, of Queens; his mother, Eleanor Gilbride, and her husband, Frank, of Roselle Park, and his sister, Linda Fanene of Long Island.

A memorial service for Mr. Fisher will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church, Morris Avenue and Suburban Road, in Union Township.