THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 27, 1995 TAG: 9509270431
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KERRY DEROCHI, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
Sometimes, it's hard to say thank you.
Sometimes, nothing seems enough.
The ceremony with the brass band and a crisp white tent. The speeches from four-star admirals. The presentation of plaque after plaque after plaque.
Sometimes, it just doesn't measure up.
Not when it's Zachary Fisher.
Faced with the task of thanking a man who had donated millions to the military, the Navy on Tuesday went one step further than the normal regalia.
At a banquet for Fisher and his wife, Elizabeth, Navy Secretary John Dalton announced he was naming a ship after the couple, in honor of the contributions they have made to the service branches.
The name Fisher will be placed on one of a newly designed Bob Hope class of fleet-support ships.
The announcement capped a day filled with ceremonies and ribbon cuttings at the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, where the Navy officially dedicated its newest Fisher House.
Built and furnished from money donated by the Fishers, the brick, two-story house is a haven for military families who need a place to stay when a relative is hospitalized.
The house, which opened in May, is the 23rd of 25 houses expected to be completed from a $15 million grant from the Fisher Foundation.
``We love the military and we love our country,'' said Zachary Fisher, during Tuesday's ceremony on the lawn outside the house. ``So it's a privilege and a pleasure for Elizabeth and I to be in the position to show in a tangible way our feelings about them.
``Where there is a military, there will always be a Fisher House. Where there's a Fisher House, there will always be loving and caring.''
Fisher, who turned 85 on Tuesday, never served in the military. He was blocked from service because of a severe leg injury. His wife, however, performed with the USO during World War II, entertaining the troops in the Mediterranean theater.
In an interview, Fisher said he had donated the money he made in corporate real estate, in New York City, to help those he called the most ``awe-inspiring people'' he had ever met.
``Anything you do for the military, you get back tenfold,'' Fisher said.
Each of the houses, which are as far away as Hawaii, Mississippi and New York, is designed to match the style and history of the area.
In Portsmouth, the result has been a two-story brick Colonial-style building, replete with antiques and deep-colored tapestry.
To walk through the Fisher House is to take a tour of an upscale country inn.
The uncertainties and pain of illness seem far away from this house.
The front porch is spacious, with tall white columns and wide, wooden rockers that seem to beckon. A library is stacked with books, videotapes and wide, comfortable couches.
In the kitchen a giant, $7,000 refrigerator covers an entire wall. On the counter sit two coffee pots and a row of teal canisters.
All the conveniences of home.
Only better.
``This place has been a godsend for me and her,'' said Vicki Foster, following her 10-month-old daughter, Gabriella, through the first-floor hallway.
``People help, they really do. This is the best place I've ever seen.''
Foster has lived in the Fisher House since Sept. 14, the day before Gabriella underwent surgery to repair a club foot.
Foster, whose husband is stationed at an army base in Georgia, said she learned of the Fisher House from doctors at the Portsmouth hospital. She arrived unsure of what to expect.
She found a family.
In the three weeks that she and her daughter have stayed at Fisher House, she has been able to share her fears with other families in the same position. There were the parents of a Coast Guardsman who had been diagnosed with cancer. The Italian wife of an Air Force colonel who didn't speak any English but filled the house with aromas of baked pasta.
For Foster, the Fisher house has been a sanctuary from the anxiety of watching your child go through a 2 1/2-hour operation, of seeing her twist and turn from an allergic reaction to a drug.
``They have been there for me when I needed to talk,'' Foster said.
In all, seven families can stay at one time in the Fisher House. The cost is $10 a day. The rules are no smoking, no drinking, no cussing.
``You would be surprised how grateful people are,'' said Loretta Loveless, who manages the property. ``(Zachary Fisher) knows there's a need. He just gives. He's that type of person.'' ILLUSTRATION: MARK MITCHELL/
Staff color photos
Elizabeth and Zachary Fisher: The Navy will name a ship for them, a
newly designed class of support ships.
The Fisher House, Portsmouth Naval Medical Center: A haven for
military families with a hospitalized relative.
by CNB