William "Bill" Fischer

1938 - 2025

William "Bill" Fischer
January 5, 1938 - August 12, 2025
Bill Fischer, Champion of Community and Family, 1938-2025.
William V. Fischer, Fort Pierre elder and advocate, third-generation South Dakota businessman, and beloved father and grandfather, died peacefully at his home in Fort Pierre on August 12. He was 87.
Bill was the heart and soul of American State Bank in Pierre, but made it into the successful, award-winning bank that it was not only through his 30 years of visionary leadership and hard work, but because he surrounded himself with exceptional people who were just as committed to a thriving South Dakota as he was.
Many regional business owners credit their beginnings to Bill and his team at American State. Bill had an uncanny ability to recognize quality and potential in people. Under his guidance, the bank lent money to businesses and endeavors that other, larger institutions had dismissed. Bill believed wholeheartedly in banking with the person, not the business.
He stood by and supported his customers, celebrating their wins and guiding them through challenging times. When things weren't going well, Bill was known to "offer" preemptory 5 a.m. meetings at his office to share advice. It was rare to find someone who looked forward to those meetings, but central South Dakota's economy benefited.
Bill was a strong and active advocate of Fort Pierre, his hometown and his Home. He was a tireless proponent of cleaning up, rebuilding, and beautifying the city, hearkening its modern hay days of the 1960s during the construction years of the Oahe Dam. His favorite of many projects was purchasing and renovating Fort Pierre's iconic Stock Growers Bank Building, returning the town's cornerstone to its original glory. He loved the building and its history and made his post-retirement office home in the sublevel.
He and his brother Karl T. Fischer spearheaded and funded the beautification and modernization of Fort Pierre's Lilly Park, which for years lay derelict and is once again a welcoming gathering place at the historically significant confluence of the Missouri and Bad Rivers. The park now holds the Fischer family name in addition to its original name, an honor to the work of the contemporary Fischer brothers, and in legacy tribute to their grandfather's generation, the Fischer Brothers who founded the eponymous mercantile on Fort Pierre's Main Street in 1889.
Bill was born to Carl and Florence (Van Camp) Fischer on January 5, 1938, and grew up in the same home on the West end of the Bad River bridge that his father grew up in. He lived through, and later told stories about, his formative years as a child during the rationing and resource allocation years of World War II, listening to radio serials like his favorite, The Lone Ranger, and its commercials: I'm Buster Brown, I live in a shoe. (Arf! Arf!) That's my dog Tige, he lives in there, too!"
He graduated in a class of 16 students from Stanley County High School in 1956 and followed in his father's footsteps to attend the University of Notre Dame, from which he graduated in 1960. He earned his Master of Business Administration from Indiana University in 1962.
He decided he wanted to be a banker when he was a teenager, inspired by Fort Pierre businessmen Gaylord Sumner, who owned Stockgrowers Bank and built the home that Bill and his family have lived in for 60 years, and Harvey Miller, who lived across the street from Bill's family when he was growing up. While still an undergraduate at Notre Dame, Bill wrote to Miller, who was then owner of Fort Pierre National Bank, and asked for first right of refusal to buy the bank if he ever decided to sell. While Miller did not take the request of a 19-year-old seriously, that young man was undeterred.
He worked as a bank examiner for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis before returning home in 1965 for a job at Pierre National Bank, which later became BankWest. With business partners James Hunt Sr., James Hunt Jr. and Clarence Mortenson, he purchased American State Bank in 1983 having earned years of valuable experience but never once wavering from the goal he expressed to Miller 25 years before.
Over the past six decades, Bill has served his local, state, and national communities in various roles. He was a member and leader in the Pierre Chamber of Commerce, the Fort Pierre City Council, and the Fort Pierre Flood Plain Committee; a leader in the South Dakota Bankers Association, South Dakota Investment Council, South Dakota Health, Education, and Facilities Authority, South Dakota Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and the Governor's Committee on Reasonable Child Custody and Visitation; a member of the National Advisory Council of the Small Business Administration, the American Bankers Association, and the Federal Reserve Bank Advisory Committee. He served on the boards of Wakpa Sica Historical Society, St. Mary's Hospital Foundation, St. John's Parish, Grand Opera House, and Western South Dakota Catholic Foundation. He was humbled to be recognized with several awards and honors for his work and contributions.
Also, though, Bill was dad to Marit and Ryan. Nothing made him prouder than the successes of his children. He cherished their time together and did everything in his power to fill their lives with love as only he could. For Bill, the first in a long line of nickname bestowers, Ryan was José, and Marit was Zinger or Roast Beef. To Marit, Bill was Guapo. To his six beautiful grandchildren, the joys of his life, he was, of course, Papa. When Ryan's youngest children were little, they associated Papa with the cows on his favorite place in the world, Fischer Ranch. They called him "Papa Mmmm." The other name they had for him came from the enthusiastic greeting he called out every time they walked in the room.
"Dad," they would say, "can we go visit Holy Moly?"
Bill Fischer was a Fort Pierre man, born of those who were born here, and as much a son of the rivers and the clay and the cottonwoods and the ever-written history of this place. This town and its people meant more to him than any of his lasting legacies his own history, the landmarks he cherished, and his descendants will ever be able to represent. He would hope that as you continue your lives on this land that he loved, you will think of him sometimes and smile.
Bill is dearly missed by his children Marit Fischer (Bill Hartlieb) of Spokane, WA and Ryan Fischer (Heather) of Pierre, SD; his six grandchildren, and one great grandchild; his right hand and the glue that kept him together, Miki Dayton (Deene) of Sioux Falls. He is survived by his brother, Karl T. Fischer (Eileen) of Fort Pierre, three nieces, and one nephew and their families. He will be remembered by his many friends and members of this community.
He was preceded in death by his parents Carl T. Fischer and Florence M. (Van Camp) Fischer of Fort Pierre.
Visitation will be 5-7 p.m. with a wake and rosary service at 7 p.m. on Friday, August 22, 2025, at St. John's Catholic Church in Fort Pierre.
Mass of Christian burial will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 23, 2025, at the church.
Burial will follow the mass at Scotty Philip cemetery in Fort Pierre.
Ryan and Marit welcome those who loved Bill to join them at the Pat Duffy Community and Youth Involved Center in Fort Pierre following burial.