Robert "Bob" Fishback

Robert Eaton Fishback was born February 22, 1936, to Horace Fishback Jr. and Margaret (Nason) Fishback in Brookings, South Dakota. He passed away on December 7, 2025. A celebration of his life will be held on Saturday, December 13 at 1 pm at the First Presbyterian Church in Brookings. A private family interment will follow the celebration. Eidsness Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.

Bob lived his whole life in Brookings where he was an active contributor to the life of the community.

He graduated from the SDSU preschool program and then attended the Brookings schools K-12, graduating in 1954. He served as the high school student body president. During his school years he was active in baseball, basketball, football, and music. He was a member of the 1952 ESD co-champion Brookings football team and the 1954 ESD Brookings basketball champion team. He achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America.

Bob attended Oberlin College in Ohio where he majored in economics, earning a BA in 1958. During the summer of 1958 he participated in the Experiment in International Living program in Germany.

In 1960, he earned a master's degree in business from the University of Chicago. Upon graduation, he returned to Brookings to work alongside his father at First National Bank, now called First Bank & Trust, where he continued the Brookings banking tradition that his grandfather had begun in 1892.

He became President of First National Bank at age 32 in January 1969, at which point the bank had fewer than 20 employees. Today, First Bank & Trust has 731 employees. Bob served as Chair of the Fishback Financial Corporation until 2016, with a total of more than 64 years of service to the bank.

Bob earned respect and success due to his understanding of the unique economy of the Brookings community and Eastern South Dakota and his commitment to helping communities thrive. He worked cooperatively with local farmers to give them opportunities to maintain and expand their farms, helped small businesses in Brookings start and grow, and saw the opportunities that came from the expertise and dedication of SDSU faculty and students.

Bob's unwavering commitment to First Bank & Trust and guiding ethos of giving back to the community through its investments, partnerships, and charitable contributions has made a lasting legacy on countless individuals, businesses, and institutions in the community he served.

Throughout his time at First Bank & Trust, he also demonstrated his commitment to making lives better through family-friendly policies he implemented at the bank. This included the establishment of a day care for children of bank employees-Kids World Learning Center. Kids World is South Dakota's first-and still only-company-owned childcare center, available to employees' children and grandchildren. Offering peace of mind, convenience, and high-quality care for employees was important to Bob, as it was not only a valuable benefit, but it also meant hand-drawn cards and bye-bye buggies traveling the hallways. Bob not only loved the kids but the daily reminder that family comes first.

On December 26, 1970, in a marriage ceremony in the home built by his grandfather, he married Patricia Sebastian. Bob and Pat spent their 55 years of married life and raised their two children, John and Ann, in Brookings.

In 1997, Bob received an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service from South Dakota State University. The honorary doctorate recognized him for being a quiet but very influential leader in the community and the state, noting he "is viewed as a strong, wise businessman and a personable, caring individual who is always truthful in his approach."

Although many of his contributions to the community were anonymous and will never be known, several were significant and public ones. For example, in his effort to protect and enhance the east entrance to Brookings, Bob purchased a large block of land south of McCrory Gardens, and today the park-like area enriches and beautifies the city. Bob's community efforts have enhanced the recreational and artistic community life of Brookings in countless ways.

Bob was a loyal, lifelong member of the First Presbyterian Church where he served as Treasurer and sang in the choir for many years.

His statewide commitments and service included The Nature Conservancy. Locally, he was a member of the Rotary Club of Brookings, the SDSU Foundation Board, and many other community organizations. He served several terms on the City Planning Commission.

An avid, lifelong tennis player, Bob was inducted into the South Dakota Tennis Hall of Fame in 2014, and he continued to play tennis into his 80s.

He loved to attend as many sports and music events as he could around Brookings, and there wasn't a Bobcat or Jacks game, theater production, or band concert that he didn't try to attend. A talented musician, the holidays were never complete without him playing piano with one or more of his beloved grandchildren sitting with him on the piano bench.

Bob is survived by his wife Patricia (Sebastian) Fishback; two children, John Thomas Fishback (Amanda Mitchell) and Ann Margaret Fishback Rivlin (Joel); four grandchildren (William and Francesca Fishback, and Abby and Toby Rivlin); one brother Van Dusen (Barbara); two sisters-in-law Margie Fishback (Nason) and Marlene Sebastian; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers (Horace III and Nason Fishback), one sister and brother-in-law (Mary Fishback and Peter van Tol), sister-in-law (Edna Fishback), two brothers-in-law (Michael and Steven Sebastian) and niece (Helen Fishback).

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Bob's memory to the First Presbyterian Church (405 7th Avenue, Brookings), the Brookings Rotary Club (1210 5th Street, Brookings), the Ivy Center (211 4th Street, Brookings) or a local organization of your choice.

A livestream of the service will be available at http://www.brookingspresbyterian.org/