[Alsfastball] Family, former classmates say goodbye to Brandan Fisher

[Al Doran]

http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050130/NEWS01/501300317/1079/NEWS

Sunday, January 30, 2005


Farewell to a friend

Family, former classmates say goodbye to Fisher



By Rob Daniel
Iowa City Press-Citizen

It was time to say goodbye to a friend.

As the blue and gold balloons floated into the cloudy sky above
St. Joseph Cemetery, the throng of mourners -- a few wearing
Regina football hats -- slowly marched by the casket of Brendan
Fisher to the tune of "Amazing Grace" played on bagpipes. Placing
a rose on top, they moved to the side, where they remembered
their friend in silence.

Fisher, 23, died Jan. 22 after the vehicle he was traveling in
with three co-workers hit the back of a snowplow along a snowy
Interstate 94 near Highway 100 in Milwaukee. Fisher, the son
of Wayne and Jerilyn Fisher, was a 2000 graduate of Regina High
School, where he was a four-sport athlete, and a May 2004 graduate
of Marquette University in criminology and law studies. Two colleagues
from the Milwaukee marketing firm he worked for also died in
the crash.

On Saturday, more than 200 family and friends, some traveling
from as far away as Germany and California, said goodbye during
a funeral Mass at St. Mary's Catholic Church. His uncle and godfather,
Richard McCarty of Elk Grove Village, Ill., said through tears
that his nephew always showed compassion for others.

"Losing someone like Brendan gives tragedy a whole new meaning,"
McCarty said. "We really should feel incredible gratitude to
him, the Lord and his parents ... that we knew him."

>Brendan Fisher's parents, Wayne and Jerilyn Fisher, sit in front
of their son's casket during the burial service Saturday at St.
Joseph's Cemetery.  Press-Citizen / Jason A. Cook
>
The Rev. Kenneth Kun-tz, the priest at St. Mary's, said Fisher
lived life to the fullest, yet continued to be concerned about
people. He stressed Fisher's work at a Milwaukee legal aid office,
where he helped HIV and AIDS patients, as well as the time he
stayed up all night to talk to a friend who was considering suicide.

"Brendan was someone who was easy to love," Kuntz said. "I think
Brendan would want us to continue his legacy, living life to
the fullest ... showing concern to others. That is what life
is all about."

Many of his friends and former teammates at Regina and Marquette
came to say goodbye.

Robert Campagna, 22, graduated with Fisher from Regina, where
both were teammates on the football, basketball, baseball and
track teams.

Campagna said Fisher was one of his best friends after Campagna
moved to Iowa City from New York before starting fourth grade.

"He was my first friend in Iowa,' Campagna said. "He was the
best type of guy you could find."

Shaun Hargrave, 21, was a classmate of Fisher's at both Regina
and Marquette. He said Fisher convinced him to attend Marquette,
where the two regularly spent Saturdays together hanging out
with other friends watching football and having fun.

"Those were the greatest days of my life," Hargrave said. "While
I was there (at Marquette), he became my best friend. He valued
his friends above everything else. If I could do half the things
he did, I'd be alright."


Reach Rob Daniel at 339-7360 or rdaniel at press-citizen.com. 


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