Don Fischer, longtime Sonoma County deputy and Santa Rosa Junior College professor, dies at 76

Law enforcement was life for Don Fischer, who for more than three decades taught administration of justice at Santa Rosa Junior College and when not in class was likely on patrol as a Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy.

“He really did try to do the right thing for the community,” said Mike Brown of Santa Rosa, a retired sheriff’s captain.

Fischer worked early in his career as a military policeman and patrol officer with the San Francisco City College and Santa Rosa police departments. At his retirement from police work in 2006, he was a bailiff in Sonoma County courtrooms.

The longtime resident of Forestville died Sunday at the age of 76. He’d aggressively fought Parkinson’s disease and the consequences of numerous on-duty car collisions and knockdowns with crime suspects.

One of his two daughters, Michelle Schiavone of Cazadero, said as proud as he was of his rare 46-year run in law enforcement, her father confided near the end of his life that if he could do it over he would put in fewer hours in uniform and more at home with his family.

“Dad was rarely around, which as a child was very hard to understand,” said Schiavone, who followed her father’s lead into law enforcement as a correctional officer. “He missed out on so many weekends, events and holidays with his family.

“But as the years went by, I have realized what an amazing man he really was, how much good he did for our community and the positive effect he had on people. He was a very strong but softhearted person.”

Fischer and his wife of 52 years, Eva, met in Puerto Rico. She recalls driving into the island’s Fort Buchanan, spotting a military policeman at the gate and almost crashing “because I was mesmerized by his beautiful eyes,” one of which winked.

Donald Lewis Fischer was born April 23, 1940, in Oakland. He graduated from Oakland High in 1958, then entered what became San Francisco State College.

He was 20 when he was sworn in as a campus officer at San Francisco City College. After about a year there, he moved north to Sonoma County and joined the Sheriff’s Office as a patrol deputy.

In 1962, he enlisted in the Army and joined the 542nd Military Police Company in Puerto Rico. Shortly after his honorable discharge he went to work for the Santa Rosa Police Department.

After five years on the force, Fischer resigned and moved to Santa Rosa Junior College to teach with the late Stan Anderson, who had founded the school’s administration of justice department about a decade earlier. Until his retirement 33 years later, in 2003, Fischer instructed legions of students who would become law enforcement officers throughout Sonoma County, the Bay Area, Northern California and beyond.

Eager to keep a hand in patrol work, the instructor worked many weekends and summers as a deputy assigned to the sheriff’s Russian River substation. He was working courtroom security when he retired from the Sheriff’s Office in 2006.

At home in Forestville, Fischer savored tending his rosebushes, cooking and relaxing with his wife, daughters and four grandchildren.

He wasn’t long into his retirement when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He practiced Pilates to counter the debilitating effects, and a year ago underwent brain surgery that he and his family credited with extending his quality of life.

His death at Mirabel Lodge was attributed to pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension.

Said daughter Schiavone, “Even in his last days, he still had that sparkle in his eyes and he refused to give up hope of recovering. He loved my mother more than life itself.

“In typical Don fashion, he put on his strong face and held on as long as his ailing body would allow.”

In addition to his wife in Forestville, his daughter in Cazadero and his three grandchildren, Fischer is survived by daughter Catherine Phillips of Oakland and sister Cynthia Gardner of San Rafael.

A memorial service will be 11 a.m. May 22 at Pleasant Hill Memorial Park.

Fischer’s family suggests memorial donations to the Forestville Fire Department, 6554 Mirabel Road, Forestville 95436.

Chris Smith.