Life Story: John Fisken helped the Red Cross for more than 40 years

Published 10:23 pm Saturday, June 7, 2008

BRIER — John Fisken was at his best when helping people prepare for the worst.

Fisken received his 40-year service award in 2007 for his volunteer work with the Red Cross in disaster services.

Coni Conner, director of disaster services for the Snohomish Red Cross, remembers Fisken as a tireless volunteer who defined four decades of service with honor, integrity and dependability.

“I met John when I started working for the Red Cross in 1997; he was my mentor,” Conner said. “He taught me everything I know about community disaster education.”

Fisken was born in Vancouver, B.C., in 1933. His family moved to Toronto, Ontario, where he was raised and went on to attend Trinity College School and Ryerson Polytechnical Institute. Fisken then joined the Canadian Air Force Reserve, serving in the 400 Squadron stationed in Toronto.

After working for CanadAir in Montreal, he was offered a position with Boeing as an engineering technician and worked on the Minuteman program until he retired in 1995.

According to his wife, Marilyn Fisken, the word “retire” didn’t apply.

“John was busier in retirement than he was in his career,” she said. “He loved to help people. He would take coffee and doughnuts to firefighters while out on a call and made toys for disadvantaged youth. He enjoyed doing that for the children.”

John Fisken was so active that quite often he would call Conner to alert her of a house fire in the community — before the fire department could.

“We would get calls for family services for families who would lose their homes in a fire from the fire department, but John was always there first, ready to help,” Conner said. “There were times he would hear the call over a scanner and respond from his house, bringing snacks and water for the firefighters as well as services for the people who just lost their house.”

Fisken was also instrumental as a Red Cross instructor, teaching disaster response classes. He helped the Red Cross write its local plans for addressing a pandemic or disaster.

“Everybody loved John. In fact, many people have come up and said, ‘He taught my first disaster class,’ ” Conner said. “He was highly respected. We could always count on John.”

Because of his variety of services to the Red Cross, his commitment and longevity, he was given the Glassberg Award.

“The Glassberg Award is our chapter’s highest volunteer recognition award,” Conner said. “He is one of my heroes. He worked tirelessly for this community. We will certainly miss him.”

John Fisken is survived by his wife, Marilyn; son, John Daniel and his wife, Diane, of Oak Harbor; daughter, Mary, of Brier; and two grandchildren, Kathryn and Michael Fisken. He is also survived by his sister, Ellen Mary Hesketh, of St. Catherine’s, Ontario.

Reporter Justin Arnold: 425-339-3432 or jarnold@heraldnet.com.