Mary Lou Fisher

Mary Lou Fisher, 95, of Farmington, Pa., passed on Sunday, Sept. 10, at her home with her loving family by her side after a long battle with illness.

She was born April 3, 1928, in Scottdale, Pa. the daughter of Bennett Carlisle “BC” Bell and Gertrude Mae (Cox) Bell.

Mary Lou, or Gram as she was known in later life, was caring, funny, kind, quick-witted, and loved to talk with all those she encountered. 

She fell in love with her husband of 63 years, Lewis John Fisher, in the summer of 1948 when he moved to Uniontown from Canada to work his way through the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system pitching in the sandlot baseball leagues across the region. They were married that fall and when he left for spring training in Texas the following year, it was only a few weeks before he quit baseball for good to be at home with Mary Lou and his growing family.  

Voted best dressed in high school, Mary Lou loved fashion and dreamed of becoming a designer, but when she and Lew were married, her dreams entwined with his. 

She played a critical role in the formation and operation of Lew’s landscaping company in the 1950s, Landscaping by Fisher, which became a household name across southwestern Pennsylvania.

In the early 1990s, she and Lew built a new home in Farmington, and she fulfilled a lifelong dream of owning an antique shop, opening Bittersweet Antiques, which remained open for more than 25 years, even as she lost her eyesight and had to rely on the kindness and honor of her customers to make change and run credit card transactions. 

She and Lew had three children and nine grandchildren, and her family was always a major focus of her life. She and her sons shared a love and passion for antiques and the antique business and later she supported her daughter’s dream of one day having her own restaurant – now Bittersweet Café. 

Mary Lou battled with illnesses and blindness and eventually immobility in later life, but her faith in God and her dedication to her family gave her daily purpose – always checking on them, working the phones to ensure they were safe and healthy and knew that she loved them.

She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, her brother William Bell and sisters Phyllis (Bell) Genovese and Marjorie (Bell) Spindler, and her grandson, Ryan “Tom” Krysak.

Surviving are her three children: son Lewis Fisher Jr. of Hopwood, Pa., son Daniel Fisher of Farmington, Pa., and daughter Terri Krysak and husband David of Ohiopyle, Pa.; eight grandchildren: Josh Krysak and wife Carly, Natalie Fisher, Emily Fisher, Clayton Krysak and wife Jess, Katie Fisher, Becky Fisher, Aaron Krysak and wife Maddie, and Brett Krysak, more than a dozen great grandchildren, sister-in-law Marlene Fisher, of Wardsville, Ont., Canada, brother-in-law Donald Webster, of Glencoe, Ont., Canada, and many beloved nieces, nephews and her very important “sister” Anita McCormick of Hopwood. 

Special thanks to those that assisted in her care in recent weeks from WVU Medicine Hospice – especially “the Melissas” and Adam Woodard, who visited and cared for her only once, the day before she died, but showed her gentle care and compassion. 

Friends will be received in the DONALD R. CRAWFORD FUNERAL HOME (FARMINGTON) from 4-8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 19, and from 10-11 a.m., the hour of service Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, at FAITH ASSEMBLY OF GOD, 690 Morgantown Road, Uniontown, Pa., with the Rev. Jason Lamer officiating.

Interment will follow in Irwin Memorial Cemetery, Farmington, Pa.

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