Mary Lee Fischer

Loved dearly by her close-knit family and friends, Mary Lee Hardesty Fischer quietly passed from this life to the next on August 8; at home and surrounded by her loved ones. A woman of many accomplishments, she dedicated her life to her family and community leadership in compassion, healthcare, the arts, and her faith. Mary Lee was a caring, creative, high-energy soul packaged in a five-foot frame that understated her influence and impact. Building on her love of arts, in 1981 Mary Lee was a founding board member of the Kentucky Arts and Crafts Foundation. Supporting a more international perspective for the community, in 1987 she assisted Helen Lang in founding Crane House. Ever inclusive, she was active at the Center for Interfaith Relations in the 1990's. She and her husband George co-founded the Family Community Clinic to provide free health care for the uninsured. Her quiet lifelong example of caring for others inspired the 2011 launch of her son Greg's "Mayor's Give a Day" community service movement which grew to provide 250,000 acts of compassion annually throughout Louisville.
Mary Lee was a creative force. Needle and yarn were her paint brushes and her legacy gifts are one-of-a-kind masterpieces that adorn our mantles. She loved our planet and began recycling in the early 70s. Her awe for the natural world, whether marveling at mountains, calculating the number of trees globally, or sheepishly enjoying the global celebrity of the famous great white shark named after her, never ceased. In her waning months, her daily dose of joy was a wheel around her garden. She was a product of Louisville's West End and a graduate of Loretto High School. In her teenage years, she worked at Hardesty Pharmacy at 38th and Broadway, her father's drugstore, where she developed her lifelong love of ice cream. After Webster and Nazareth colleges, she worked at Seagram's in accounting before beginning her lifelong married adventure with George in 1955. Mary Lee is predeceased by her loving husband and 70+ year soulmate, George Fischer, her parents Marion and Mary Ann Niehaus Hardesty, and sisters Alice Wunderlich and Roberta Gray. Left to celebrate their gratitude for having an incredible, loving mom are her children Lynn, Greg (Alexandra), Mark, Paul (Donna), and Chris (Nicole). Fourteen grandchildren loved on their "Gram": Eleni (Cody), George, Michael, Nick, Katie (Anthony), Mary, PJ, Patrick, Ellie, Christine, Sarah, Lyla, Luke, and Everlee along with two great-grandchildren, Penny and Sophia and close family friends Emmanuel Mwintuma and Brandon Maloney. She is also survived by her sisters-in-law, Doris Walsh, Rosemary Cuni, and Nancy Furlong and brother-in-law, Jack Furlong, and her many nieces and nephews. The family wishes to thank her loving caregivers Ashlea and Amy. Visitation: Pearsons Funeral Home; 149 Breckinridge Lane, Friday August 15, 3-7pm. Vigil service will begin at 6:15. Funeral mass: Cathedral of the Assumption; Saturday August 16, 11am. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Family Community Clinic Endowment Fund www.famcomclinic.org, Center for Interfaith Relations https://www.centerforinterfaithrelations.org, OCEARCH www.ocearch.org, or Trees Louisville https://www.treeslouisville.org... To plant a beautiful memorial tree in memory of Mary, please visit our Tree Store.