Rowena Callender Fisher, age 102, went to be with her Lord on May 31, 2021, in Franklin, Tennessee. Her century-plus life spanned the opening of King Tut’s tomb to the Rovers on Mars.
Rowena was born at home in Skaneateles to Russell and Gladys Callender, on July 5, 1918. Up until the eighth grade, she went to school in a one-room school house where her lunch was often a potato baked on the pot-bellied stove in the center of the room. She was a 1935 graduate of Skaneateles High School, after which she took a business course which led to a secretarial position at Dunn & McCarthy Shoe Company in Auburn, N.Y. After meeting Carl Fisher on a blind date, she married him on Oct. 22, 1938, in a ceremony at her family home on Shamrock Road, Skaneateles. They were married for 67 years during which they were blessed with three children.
Rowena was a member of the Skaneateles First Presbyterian Church and was active in the Skaneateles Firemen Ladies’ Auxiliary and the Skaneateles Singing Seniors. She and Carl loved traveling in their motorhome to visit their three children in different states, vacations in Florida and camping with grandchildren at the state parks in New York. She enjoyed playing Bingo, league bowling at the Cedar House, reading Danielle Steel books, crossword puzzles and playing cards with her many friends.
Rowena was preceded in death by her husband, Carl, her parents, her sister, Erma Jerva, and a grandson, Kyle Callender Princehorn.
She is survived by her children: Judy Welling (Michael) of Statesville, NC, Donna Princehorn (Timothy) of Franklin, TN, and Russell Fisher (Diane) of Ocala, FL; her grandchildren: Michelle Coomber, Tina Thorpe (Tom), Molly Darr (Brad), Benjamin Princehorn (Sarah), Keith Fisher (Chelsea), and Brian Fisher (Lindsay); nine great-grandchildren, two great-great grandchildren, and two nephews and a niece.
Memorials may be given to Skaneateles Firemen Ladies’ Auxiliary, or Skaneateles First Presbyterian Church. The family wishes to extend our sincere thanks to Belvedere Commons Assisted Living, and Avalon Hospice, both of Franklin, TN.
Because of COVID concerns, a life celebration will not be held until August, 2022, in Skaneateles, at which time family and friends will be notified.
