Lived life in fast lane, family says

Ed Fisher was the king of speed at the wheel of his Boss 302 Mustang, racing down a dragstrip at more than 100 mph.

“It was fast and he liked going fast,” said his ex-wife, Joyce Cruey. “He couldn’t settle down any, he was always on the go.”

Arvid Neal “Ed” Fisher died Tuesday at his Jacksonville home from bladder cancer. He was 75. Growing up in the small town of Burke, S.D., Fisher had a need for speed, much to the dismay of local law enforcement.

“He outran the cops and they couldn’t do anything with him when he got in the driveway,” Cruey said. “It was a small town, everybody knows everybody. He more or less played with cops up there.”

In 1954, Fisher joined the U.S. Air Force, but was almost turned down because he was just 5-foot-7.

“They tried to tell him he was too short to go into the service,” Cruey said. “He said he went back home, ate a bunch of bananas to get taller to join the service.”

During Fisher’s 20-year career in the service, he traveled throughout the world, from Greece to Thailand.

By day, Fisher was secretary to the general, but by night and during his time off, he was fixated on racing.

He was a jockey for a year, racing horses in Iowa, but his true passion was drag racing. Cruey said her ex-husband drag-raced wherever he was stationed, including Japan.

“He built race cars all the time on the side,” about eight in all, Cruey said. “He went to Mount Fuji and raced cars there.”

While stationed in Japan, Fisher once got to meet and interview NASCAR racing legends like Richard Petty and Glenn “Fireball” Roberts, for a radio show he hosted at Camp Drake.

“He really enjoyed that because he was into cars and building cars,” his exwife said.

In 1970, the couple divorced and Fisher retired from the military four years later, settling in Jacksonville to run an auto shop. Fisher ran his shop for six years and continued to drag race every Friday and Saturday night.

“He knew just about anything and everything about any kind of car,” Cruey said. “He could look at it ... and hear what was wrong with it.”

In the e a rly 1980s, Fisher began driving 18-wheelers for Werner Enterprises. Up until his retirement last year, Fisher would be on the road for weeks, seeing America through his windshield with his trusty lhasa apso, Rusty, by his side.

“He liked race cars, he liked to drive, so I think just being out on the road is what he enjoyed,” said his daughter, Gail Schnebelen. “Him and that dog went everywhere together ... the dog liked coffee and ice cream.”

A straight-shooter, Fisher loved to cut up with friends and believed a person’s word meant everything, said his daughter, June Branch.

“He was always a sweet person,” Branch said. “But he’d say, ‘If you lie to me, don’t ever speak to me again if I find out about it.’”

Fisher was active in the Filipino American Association and married a woman from the Philippines, Myrna Fisher, in July, his daughter said.

Though Fisher led a fast-paced life, he always slowed down to read the Scriptures.

“Even when he was driving the truck, he took his Bible and read it every day,” Branch said.