Edward Fizer

Edward L. Fizer Jr. passed away September 12, 2024 at the Southern Utah Veterans Home in Ivins, UT at the age of 81. He was born July 30, 1943 in Slater, MO.

He enlisted in the Army in 1961 after high school graduation. He was awarded the Green Beret by President Kennedy in October 1961 on the Parade Field at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Kennedy made the "Green Beret" a recognizable symbol of this elite fighting force. He served in the 3rd (Vietnam airborne), 5th (Vietnam airborne), and 8th (Panama) Special Forces. He completed 130 jumps in these Airborne units. He did three tours of duty in Vietnam (1963, 1965 and 1970). He lived with the Montagnards in their compounds, an indigenous tribe that provided for their families with crossbows and spears. The Army provided for their whole families. They recruited and trained the men in the village to fight against the Vietcong. He came to love these loyal people. Ed and his fellow soldiers were literally a participant in their daily lives even playing with their children. Helicopters would airdrop whole cows and pigs into the compound and nothing went to waste. No more spears needed.! They also gave them tennis shoes, what a change after running barefoot in the jungle.

When he was in Panama with the 8th Special Forces, they put every 1st Lieutenant going to Vietnam through jungle school. He retired as a Command Sergeant Major, an E-9, the highest achievable rank for enlisted soldiers. He was also the Sergeant Major of the Salt Lake City Recruiting Command with 27 recruiting stations in 6 states and covering 410,000 square miles.

After 22 years in the Army, he taught school at East High in Salt Lake City (History and ROTC.) He then was a walking mailman in the Salt Lake area. After retiring for good in 2002, Ed and Patti moved to Mesquite, shortly after he was a torchbearer for the 2002 Winter Olympics torch relay. In 2003, Mayor Bill Nichols tasked Ed with being an advisor and advocate for the 3,000 veterans residing here. He later became one of a group of veteran advisors to Senator Harry Reid.

Some of his major accomplishments are as follows: He brought the traveling Vietnam Wall to town in 2005, he started the Mesquite chapter of the Vietnam Veterans in 2007, and his vision for a Veterans Center became a reality in February 2011. He was awarded the Distinguished Citizen Award of Mesquite for 2011. He also procured the Gold eagle statue that was dedicated on Pearl Harbor Day 2016 at the Veterans Memorial at the cemetery.

Ed loved doing woodworking, stained glass, and collecting Budweiser mugs. He had a love of old cars. He had a 65 Corvair convertible, and a 1985 El Camino. He completely restored a 1952 Dodge pickup truck (3 year project) as well as a 1979 Harley Davidson that was a vision of chrome, chrome, chrome. He found a true kinship with his brothers in the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Club in Las Vegas. In 2012 and 2014 he made two trips to California and then cross country to Washington, DC on his Honda Gold Wing over Memorial weekend as part of the "Run for the Wall" or "Rolling Thunder" ride. There were literally tens of thousands of motorcycles in the Pentagon parking lot. He loved to putter in the garage and was not one to just sit around. He ran 5 marathons in 4 consecutive decades, his 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's, the last one when he was 56. He also had run 1,000 miles in the US Army's Run for your Life club.

Ed and Patti were fortunate to travel extensively to a dozen or so foreign countries.

Ed is survived by his wife Patti- Mesquite, NV, son Tony Fizer -Naples, Florida; Daughter Leslie (Chuck) Ehin - Naples, Florida; son Tracy (Joy) Fizer -Ivins, Utah, their Mother Bunny (Mike) Wiseman - Naples, Florida and Daughter Courtney (Scott) Rasband - Alpine, Utah. He has 12 grandchildren and four great- grandchildren.

There will be a celebration of life on Saturday, October 5th from 4 PM to 6 PM at the Veterans Center in Mesquite.

If desired, donations on Ed's behalf can be made to the Mesquite Veterans Center, Chapter 993 of the Vietnam Veterans, the Salvation Army of Mesquite or St. Judes.