In Memoriam: Montgomery Ross Fisher, 88

June 26, 2009 7:35 AM

Montgomery Ross Fisher, USC alumnus, former trustee and respected Southern California engineering and building contractor, died on June 10. He was 88.

Fisher was founder and president of a prominent construction business that spanned the residential, commercial and public spheres, with projects including schools, hospitals, office buildings, the Beverly Hills Reservoir, Greater Los Angeles Zoo, Los Angeles City Hall (phase two), Long Beach Civic Center and thousands of single-family dwellings.

At USC, Fisher had been a member of the USC Board of Trustees since 1969 and a life trustee since 1984. In 1973, he was elected a vice chairman of the board. He also chaired the $309 million Toward Century II fund-raising campaign, which was launched in 1976 and culminated in USC’s centennial celebration during the 1980-81 academic year.

“As chairman of Toward Century II, Monty Fisher was a strong volunteer leader who worked very hard to bring success to a campaign that was operated during one of our most severe recessions,” said senior vice president emeritus Roger F. Olson, who worked with Fisher on the campaign. “He and his wife, Joanne, were extraordinarily devoted to the university.”

Fisher was born in Beverly Hills on Jan. 17, 1921, attended Beverly Hills High School and earned a Bachelor of Science from USC’s business school in 1943.

After graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served in the Pacific during World War II. He was discharged with the rank of lieutenant in 1946.

He formed his own construction firm in 1947 and in 1951 incorporated the company under the name of Montgomery Ross Fisher Inc. The business grew over the years into a broadly successful enterprise encompassing some 50 subsidiary corporations.

Fisher and his wife, Joanne (née McCormick ’49), shared a passion for travel and an active lifestyle. During the 1960s and ’70s, they raised, showed and rode thoroughbred horses, including the 1967 California Derby winner, Proper Proof. The horse went on to run in the Kentucky Derby in 1968, but finished out of the money. Montgomery Fisher was an experienced pilot as well and for many years held a commercial pilot’s license.

Fisher had been a trustee of the Harvard School in North Hollywood and the Marlborough School for Girls in Los Angeles, and a benefactor of the City of Hope in Duarte. He and his wife were also supporters of the Doheny Eye Institute, for which he served on the board of directors.

In addition to serving as a trustee, Fisher was active in several USC support groups, including the USC Associates, Cardinal and Gold, the Scholarship Club, and Skull and Dagger. In 1976, he provided matching funds to help establish an endowed faculty chair named for the USC Associates.

He received an honorary doctor of laws degree from USC in 1976. Later that year, the business school recognized him with its alumni award for outstanding achievement. He was the recipient of an Alumni Service Award in 1983.

In appreciation for his contributions to USC, Fisher’s name is memorialized prominently on the University Park campus. A building that bears his name, dedicated in 1974 as home of the USC School of Library Science, now houses the School of Social Work. In addition, the plaza connecting Bovard Administration Building and Alumni Memorial Park was named Fisher Plaza in his honor as part of the extensive campus landscaping undertaken in preparation for USC’s participation in the 1984 Olympics.

Fisher was preceded in death by Joanne, his wife of 53 years. He is survived by his sister Mary Virginia Parham ’40 and brother William Fisher ’56. His survivors also include four children, Kathy Parazette ’72, Monty Jr., Allison Walker and Sarah Fisher, as well as three sons-in-law, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

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