died of sespsis at
Harrisonburg, VA on 3 November 2013. He was 81 years old. A native of Wichita
KS, he attended Friends University before receiving his congressional
appointment to the Academy from Kansas. He graduated in June of 1956 and was a
member of the 13thCompany. Upon graduation he married the love of
his life, Charlotte Jones of Conway Springs Kansas. After graduation Ted,
served on USS YORKTOWN (CVA-10), USS CORONADO (LSD-19) and USS PERKINS
(DDR-877). He commanded USS Jerome County (LST-848) operating extensively in
Vietnam from 1964 to 1966, as Commander, Landing Ship Squadron Three, he lead
21 LSTs operating from Guam to support operations in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970.
He then served as the Navy’s Aide to the Commandant of the Marine Corp from
1971 to 1973. He then commanded USS PENSACOLA (LSD-38). After command, Ted was
the Deputy Director of the Office of Program Apprasials. He retired in 1978,
but returned to active duty four times as a Convoy Commodore, returning to sea
to command convoys of Pre-positioned Support Force in the Indian Ocean and
Altantic and to serve as Commander, Naval Support Facility, Diego Garcia in
1987.
In civilian life Ted
worked for Service Master and Marriott as facilities regional manager in the
mid-western and northeastern United States. Eventually, he formed his own
consulting firm providing similar services to hospitals, colleges and
retirement communities. His pastimes include fishing, RV’ing, and shooting.
Ted remained an early
adopter of technology and always had that obscure or hard to find item as noted
during his academy days.
He is survived by his
wife of 57 years, Charlotte, two children, CAPT Tracey A. Fischer, ’80 USN
(ret.) and Tamara G. Fischer-White, and six grandchildren.
In accordance with Ted's
wishes, there was no funeral service. There is no definite time frame for inurnment
of his cremated remains.