Memorials › Norma Jean Duspiva Fisher

Norma Jean Duspiva Fisher

9 Aug 1927 – 17 Jan 2024

Birth9 Aug 1927
Death17 Jan 2024
CemeteryIdaho State Veterans Cemetery
Boise , Ada County , Idaho , USA
Added byJan and Mike on 03 Mar 2024
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/265972499

Bio

The Eugene Register-Guard Lane County, Oregon Sunday, March 3, 2024 Norma Jean Duspiva Fisher On 1/17/2024 Norma Jean Duspiva Fisher, age 96, of Meridian, Idaho, joined those who have gone before. Jean was born 8/9/1927 on the family farm in Nampa, ID, to Jennie C. Wasel Duspiva and Mike Duspiva. (Both of her parents' forbears immigrated in the 1870's to the United States from Bohemia.) She was the last living sibling of the Duspiva's family of 10 children. Jean attended Nampa schools, The College of Idaho, and then transferred to Oregon State College (now University) after one year, hoping to get a degree in entomology but settling for a degree in general science. It became apparent that women at that time had limited career opportunities in her chosen field. Undeterred, she added education credits to her course offerings that would enable her to teach science classes. Ever after she described herself as a "thwarted entomologist." During her college years at Oregon State, Jean amassed a large and well curated collection of insects which she donated to OSU when she moved back to Idaho. Jean Duspiva married Robert J. Fisher in the fall of 1948 in Lincoln City, OR, and again in Nampa, ID, on 4/13/1949. None of the Duspiva family or the Fisher family were privy to the information about the first wedding until Bob and Jean moved back to Idaho in 2016 and Bob could no longer contain the secret which they had kept for 68 years. Jean was a natural born teacher and taught junior high science in Nampa and Salem, OR, until the Fishers adopted their children, Alan and Rebecca. With great joy Jean became a parent and a housewife. After the children were raised, she worked as a substitute teacher in the Eugene School District, retiring at the age of 80. Both Canyon County natives, Jean and Bob lived in Nampa for several years after their marriage. They relocated to Salem and settled in a delightful cabin in the woods which gave Jean the opportunity to immerse herself in the natural environment. After a few years in the Salem cabin, they settled in Eugene where they lived for most of their married life. They returned to Idaho in July of 2015 to reside at Touchmark in Meridian. She and Bob took full advantage of living near the Oregon Coast and travelled throughout the West in their RV's using a Thousand Trails membership. Jean was blessed with an incredible memory and shared her vast knowledge and enjoyment of things in the natural world with her students and everyone around her as well. She was a lifelong wordsmith, writing stories, puns, and poems from her grade school years up to just a few weeks before her death. She had an unquenchable zest for life and a curiosity that challenged her to keep learning. This past fall she participated in a class to learn sign language. Jean had a genuine interest in and love for people, and she never lost her interest in bugs. She laughed easily and could make you do the same. She was genuinely interested in each person in her life and made all feel special. There were many facets to Jean's existence, and people knew her in different ways: as a beloved relative, student, teacher, cherished friend and confidant, salesman, code enforcement officer, an Allison Park Church member, a writer, a humorist, a thespian, a gardener, a genealogist, a reader, and a skilled seamstress. A child of the Great Depression, Jean learned how to work, how to make do with what one had, and how to save things "in case they might be needed later." Cherishing the things in life that truly matter was a given for her. She kept in lifelong contact with "The Gang," a group of her high school girlfriends and other longstanding friends and their offspring. Jean was predeceased by her parents; husband Bob in 2016; son Alan; her brothers Victor, Frank, Raymond; two brothers who died in infancy; sisters, Velma Thurston, Anna Coon, Pauline Noe, Mildred Yankey, Odessa Eidemiller; a special niece, Jewel Thurston Hunter; all her cousins, and several nieces and nephews. She is survived by daughter Rebecca Fisher, a bevy of Duspiva and Fisher nieces and nephews, many friends far and wide, and her special kitty, Remmy, who brought great joy to her life and provided her with much subject matter for writing stories and poems. A memorial service will be held on Friday, March 15th at 11 AM at the Dakan Funeral Chapel in Caldwell, ID. Jean was interred at the Idaho Veteran's Cemetery with Bob. In honor of the life-changing experiences which she had on two College of Idaho field trips under the tutelage of Dr. Lyle Stanford, Jean established The Robert and Jean Fisher Trail Mix Scholarship Fund at the College. She requested that gifts in her memory be directed to this fund at The College of Idaho, 2112 Cleveland Blvd, Caldwell, ID 83605.

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