On November 14, 2005, Orpha Lou Morrison Fisher, 65, passed from this life quietly, with grace and dignity, at her home beside her family, after a long and valiant battle with progressive supranuclear palsy. She lived well each day, in both sickness and health, enjoying all that life had to offer and always giving of herself to those she loved and to every person she met. Orpha Lou was an ever loving wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, but most of all, she was a best friend to so many. A private burial service, limited to the immediate family, will take place in her hometown of Ada, Oklahoma. Her life will be celebrated with a special memorial service on Friday, November 18 at 3:00 p.m. at the Westminster Presbyterian Church, 4400 North Shartel, in Oklahoma City, with Dr. Michael Anderson and Dr. Randall Spindle officiating. Orpha Lou was born on December 22, 1939 at St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City. Her parents, Donnie and Finis Morrison, lifelong residents and school teachers of Ada, predeceased her. She attended the Ada public schools, graduating from Ada High School in 1957. In 1960, she graduated from St. Anthony School of Nursing in Oklahoma City, where she remained on the nursing-school faculty for four years. In 1961 she married her high-school friend, Dr. Darryl Fisher. In 1964, they moved to Baltimore where Dr. Fisher completed his nine years of cardiovascular surgery residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1973. Orpha Lou served as a pediatric nurse at the Hopkins Childrens' Medical and Surgical Center and gave birth to their son and daughter at the Hopkins hospital. In the mid 1970s the Fisher family lived in Nashville where Orpha Lou was able to be a full-time mom while developing a variety of interests: floristry, gardening, painting, piano, choir. Her most enjoyable avocation, most especially to her family and friends, was her talent in the kitchen, leaving a legacy of memories of meals with friends and family as well as an enormous collection of recipes. She was Editor of the Hopkins Cookbook, a compilation of favorite recipes from the families of the Hopkins interns and residents, a fundraising project of the Hopkins Housestaff Association. For nearly three decades, Orpha Lou and her family have been active members of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City. Orpha Lou served as a Deacon and was an Elder of the church, but her most fulfilling contribution was her devotion to the Westminster Mobile Meals program. For more than two decades, she shared her caring personality and her wonderful cooking skills with elderly and homebound members of her community. She earned the affectionate nickname of the "mobile meals maven because of her commitment to the food, the meals, the cooks, and the clients of the program. Orpha Lou's love and passion were always and foremost her family. Her love, her smiles, and her laughter will always remain with her husband, her daughter, her son, her grandchildren, and that large extended family of friends she never lost touch with over the years. Survivors include her husband and soulmate of 45 years, Darryl Fisher, of the home; her son, Eric Scott Fisher, Sr., of Oklahoma City; her daughter, Laura Fisher- Clark, of Phoenix, Arizona; and her four so beloved grandchildren: Eric Scott Fisher, Jr. of Oklahoma City; Reid Dulaney Fisher of Oklahoma City; Cameron Joseph Clark of Phoenix, Arizona; and Samantha Paige Clark of Phoenix, Arizona. Her father Finis Morrison predeceased her in Ada, Oklahoma in 1980, and her mother Donnie Morrison died in 2004. Her younger sister, Glenda Spencer, predeceased her in Bastrop, Louisiana in 1994. Honorary Pallbearers are Harvey Bender, M.D. of Nashville, Tennessee; Dan Carmichael, M.D. of Oklahoma City; Sewell Dixon, M.D. of Kiawah, South Carolina; James Donahoo, M.D. of Summitt, New Jersey; William D. Hawley, M.D., of Oklahoma City; John Armstrong Henry, IV of Dallas, Texas; Robert Hill of Nashville, Tennessee; Elbert C. Holmes, M.D., of Pacific Palisades, California; Richard Mooney of Oklahoma City; Robert Pipkin, M.D., of Fremont, California; William Sloan, M.D. of Los Angeles, California; The Honorable Michael Stano of Stillwater, Oklahoma; John Vaughan of Oklahoma City; and William E. Walker, M.D. of Houston, Texas. Criswell Funeral Home of Ada, Oklahoma is in charge of arrangements. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the Westminster Presbyterian Church's Mobile Meals Program (Mobile Meals Program, Westminster Presbyterian Church, 4400 North Shartel, Oklahoma City, OK 73118), or to the Society for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (Executive Plaza III, 11350 McCormick Road, Suite 906 Hunt Valley, MD 21031), or to a charity of choice.



Archive ID: 2793549