LeRoy Fischer 

March 11, 2014

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LeRoy Fischer, 96, was born on May 19, 1917, in Hoffman, IL, and passed away on March 11 in Stillwater. Following his completion of the Ph.D. in history from the University of Illinois, he entered the U.S. Army Signal Corps during WWII. On June 20, 1948, LeRoy and Martha Gwendolyn Anderson were married in Stanton Iowa. Before accepting a position at OSU in 1946, he taught for a time at Ithaca College in New York state. During the 38 years he taught at OSU, he specialized in American History and the Civil War in the Indian Territory. He retired as Oppenheim Professor of History. LeRoy was passionate about historic preservation, especially for OSU’s Old Central and the Honey Springs Battle Field. He was active in several historical societies and served as chairman of the board at Stillwater’s First United Methodist Church, in addition to serving on the YMCA Board. LeRoy was honored as an OSU Teacher of the Year, in addition to being inducted into the Centralia, Illinois, Hall of Fame, the Oklahoma Higher Education Hall of Fame, and the Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame. He was also the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award by the Oklahoma Heritage Association. He is survived by three children and five grandchildren.