Scholarship fund continues to thrive woman’s legacy

Kayla Otey (left) is the 2013 recipient of the Bruce Crane Fisher Legacy Scholarship. Frederick S. Fisher, son of Bruce Crane Fisher, makes the presentation for the family. Otey plans to attend Old Dominion University and major in criminal justice.

Andre' Jones photo

A woman’s contribution to the Charles City community lives on through a scholarship established by her children and other family members.

Bruce Crane Fisher lived her life by putting others before herself. Described as a caring and generous woman, Fisher often shared her time and money to help those in need.

“What set her apart was her tremendous kindness and concern for other people,” said Allison Monroe Martin, a Richmond attorney.

An advocate for social justice, Fisher elicited Martin’s assistance in an effort to help a man who had been in prison since 1983 but proclaimed his innocence. “When Fisher heard his story, she wanted to find a way to help him,” Martin said. In the past, Fisher had retained a defense lawyer to help people who could not afford to hire one on their own.

“She could see the little ray of good in anybody,” said Bruce M. Tyler, a woman who worked for Fisher for almost 50 years.

“It was through her strong religious faith that she lived by the creed of ‘concerns for the needs of others,’” according to lifetime friend Em Bowles Locker Alsop.

In Charles City, Fisher helped schools buy items such as band equipment and uniforms. She welcomed field trips from area schools to Westover, as well as assisting several Charles City students with college tuition.

She imparted to her children the importance of giving back to the community and instilled in them the desire to get to know the people they are helping as individuals,.

A friendly and kind person, Fisher was “always an engaging friend because of her sense of humor and her enjoyment in anecdotal exchanges of the past or present,” Alsop concluded.

Now, that legacy has developed into an annual scholarship presented to a Charles City graduate. In partnership with the Charles City Educational Foundation, the Bruce Crane Fisher Scholarship aids students who wish to pursue a higher education. This year’s recepient was Kayla Otey.