{"id":32483,"date":"2026-01-24T07:07:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T14:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/?post_type=case&#038;p=32483"},"modified":"2026-01-30T08:36:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T15:36:30","slug":"bernard-l-fisher-age-83-of-helena","status":"publish","type":"case","link":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/obituaries\/bernard-l-fisher-age-83-of-helena\/","title":{"rendered":"Bernard L. Fisher, age 83, of Helena"},"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","class_list":{"0":"post-32483","1":"case","2":"type-case","3":"status-publish","5":"entry","6":"has-post-thumbnail"},"acf":[],"fields":{"first_name":"Bernard","middle_name":"Lee","last_name":"Fisher","date_born":"07\/01\/1942","date_died":"01\/22\/2026","age":"83","city":"Helena","state":"Montana","full_obituary_text":"<div style=\"padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/event\/5696194\/embed\/interaction\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Bernard Lee Fisher was born on his mother\u2019s 42<sup>nd<\/sup> birthday, July 1, 1942, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was named after the nurse, Bernadette, who saved his mother\u2019s life that day. He died on January 22, 2026, aged 83, at his home in Helena, Montana, surrounded by his loving family.<\/p>\n<p>Born to Arthur and Edna (Minick) Fisher, he joined older brothers Albert, William, James, and Edgar. Growing up, Bernie\u2019s independence, curiosity, and amazing problem-solving skills were built through a childhood of freedom, friendship, overcoming adversity, and family connection. His father passed when he was just five years old, leaving the indomitable Edna to raise five Fisher boys alone, as only she could do.<\/p>\n<p>Just before his 12<sup>th<\/sup> birthday, Bernie was helping herd yearling colts to a corral when his steed bit one. The colt kicked in response, and its hoof connected with Bernie\u2019s right cheekbone, knocking him off his mount into a barbed wire fence and shattering his cheekbone, eye socket, and sinuses. A taxi that happened to be driving by took him to the hospital where an amazing surgeon saved his eyesight, hearing, handsome face, and life. This event gave Bernie his childhood nickname, Scarface.<\/p>\n<p>After graduating from Thomas Jefferson Senior High School in Cedar Rapids in 1960, Bernie headed to Westmar College in LeMars, Iowa. As fate would have it, his soon-to-be wife, Ardyth Ann Frerichs, was from LeMars but going to college in Cedar Rapids. She crossed paths with Bernie\u2019s brother Eddie and he encouraged her to connect with his little brother Bernie when she was back home. She did, and thus began over six decades of a beautiful life together.<\/p>\n<p>Bernie proposed by blindly plucking a four-leaf-clover as he and Ardie sat in a friend\u2019s backyard. Ardie still has this pressed four-leaf clover. They were married in LeMars on April 18, 1964, and soon headed off to Bozeman, Montana, where Bernie had been accepted to architecture school at Montana State College and where Ardie had an X-ray technician job waiting for her. Their years in Bozeman were full of fun and many adventures in the mountains.<\/p>\n<p>After first working as an architect in Great Falls, Montana, and then Casper, Wyoming, Bernie and Ardie settled in Helena in 1971 where Bernie worked for the Don Taylor Architecture firm and later opened his own business in architecture and perf-a-taping. He then worked for the State of Montana Building Codes Division as a plan reviewer for eighteen years until his retirement in 2007.<\/p>\n<p>Bernie enjoyed teaching his daughters, Tamara and Taralyn, the building trades while they helped him build three family homes that he designed in Helena and a family cabin (\u201cHeaven\u2019s Half Acre\u201d) in Mammoth, Montana, on the South Boulder River, where his ashes will remain. Bernie later helped his daughters build their own homes, which he also designed, in Polson and Belgrade.<\/p>\n<p>After retirement, Bernie enjoyed spending time with his family at their cabin and traveling south for a few weeks in the winter. He built furniture for his daughters, made countless picture frames, and went camping, 4-wheeling, backpacking, and fishing. Most treasured was spending time with his grandson Cedric and granddaughter Celia.<\/p>\n<p>When daughter Tara was deployed to Iraq and she asked for \u201csomething that smells like Montana\u201d for Christmas, Bernie figured out how to properly ship a real, live Montana Christmas tree to a middle eastern desert and get it there still green. In the following years, he shipped many dozen real Montana Christmas trees to those deployed in both Iraq and Afghanistan.<\/p>\n<p>Bernie\u2019s final big project, achieved through his sheer determination and the support of his wife and daughters, was securing the re-opening of a destroyed road above their cabin. This accomplishment took years of letter writing to multiple agencies and individuals, researching historical documents in the Madison County Courthouse, and attending countless meetings. Thanks to Bernie\u2019s persistence, this recently re-opened road is now a safe second exit for the mountain cabins in Mammoth.<\/p>\n<p>His friction-worn shovel and tattered work hat are testament to the drive, innovation, and persistence that fueled Bernie throughout his life and built his family and their homes.<\/p>\n<p>Bernie was funny, creative, determined (oh, so determined), tenderhearted yet firm, and adored by everyone who knew him.<\/p>\n<p>Bernie was preceded in death by his parents Arthur and Edna; toddler sister Geraldine; brothers Albert, William, and James; brothers-in-law Gerald, Richard, George, Stanley, and Leon Frerichs; sisters-in-law Jo, Dorothy, and Joanne Fisher; sisters-in-law Kathy, Marlys, and Peggy Frerichs; brothers-in-law Ron Fick and Charles Rowe; nephews Tom, Richard Allen, Gary, and Terry Frerichs and Mike Popke; and father- and mother-in-law Claus and Minnie Frerichs.<\/p>\n<p>Survivors include his wife Ardie of 61 years; daughter and son-in-law Tamara and Bill Alley of Polson, Montana; daughter Tara DeCock and grandchildren Cedric and Celia DeCock of Dillon, Montana; brother and sister-in-law Eddie and Shirley Fisher of McAllister, Montana; sisters-in-law Carol Rowe of Lake Park, Iowa, and Donna Frerichs of LeMars; and numerous beloved nieces and nephews and their families. Bernie is also survived by Don Taylor\u2019s family, his widow Marlyce and their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, who were family in every way but blood; and many other close friends who brought joy, humor, and lasting memories.<\/p>\n<p>Services will take place at Anderson, Stevenson, &amp; Wilke Funeral Home in Helena on Saturday, January 31, 2026, at 11:00 AM.<\/p>\n<p>In lieu of a memorial, Bernie would rather that you teach a child how to use tools. Go build something. Please visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aswfuneralhome.com\">www.aswfuneralhome.com<\/a> to offer a condolence to the family or to share a memory of Bernie.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/bernie-1.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","service_status":"public","event_title1":"Memorial Service","event_date1":"2026-01-31","start_time1":"11:00 a.m.","end_time1":"","location1":"Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home","address1":"3750 N Montana Ave.","city1":"Helena","state1":"Montana","zipcode1":"59602","event_title2":"Reception","event_date2":"2026-01-31","start_time2":"Following the service","end_time2":"","location2":"Social Hall of Anderson Stevenson Wilke","address2":"3750 N Montana Ave.","city2":"Helena","state2":"Montana","zipcode2":"59602","event_title3":"","event_date3":"","start_time3":"","end_time3":"","location3":"","address3":"","city3":"","state3":"","zipcode3":"","event_title4":"","event_date4":"","start_time4":"","end_time4":"","location4":"","address4":"","city4":"","state4":"","zipcode4":"","event_title5":"","event_date5":"","start_time5":"","end_time5":"","location5":"","address5":"","city5":"","state5":"","zipcode5":"","event_title6":"","event_date":"","start_time6":"","end_time6":"","location6":"","address6":"","city6":"","state6":"","zipcode6":"","event_title7":"","event_date7":"","start_time7":"","end_time7":"","location7":"","address7":"","city7":"","state7":"","zipcode7":"","event_title8":"","event_date8":"","start_time8":"","end_time8":"","location8":"","address8":"","city8":"","state8":"","zipcode8":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/32483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}