Obituary of Dr. Craig W. Fisher

Dr. Craig W. Fisher, Professor Emeritus of Information Systems, of Poughkeepsie, NY, passed away at the age of 80 at Vassar Hospital surrounded by his loving family. Craig was an inspiration to all who knew him. His great love for people, sense of humor, keen intellect, and talent for teaching were readily apparent in his career, his church, his chess club, and, of course, among his family and friends. Craig was born on August 13, 1943 in Syracuse, NY. From an early age, Craig was a resilient overcomer. He, his three older brothers, and younger sister, grew up in a children’s home in Syracuse in the 1940s and 50s. Craig became the first of his siblings to attend college. Painting houses helped fund his BS in Mathematics which he earned at SUNY Oswego in 1965, where he was also a member of the Beta Brothers, Beta Tau Epsilon. He then earned an MS in Mathematics from Ball State, and later a Ph.D. in Information Systems from University at Albany. In his memoir, By the Scruff of My Neck (2022), Craig credits the Lord for carrying him safely through his difficult childhood into his adult life where he had the opportunity to serve those around him with his many God-given abilities. In 1966, Craig married his wife Ginger, who he loved dearly during their 52 years of marriage, until she passed away in 2018. They raised three children, Dan, Pam, and Rob. As a father, he loved coaching CYO basketball, taking his kids to Friendly’s for ice cream, and spending time with them at his rural hunting club in Pennsylvania. Craig began his career as a systems engineer and computer programmer at IBM, where he worked for 20 years. He rose to a 4th level manager position, responsible for 200 employees within his division. He then became IBM’s Worldwide Information Systems (IS) Audit Manager for two years, before deciding to shift his focus to the college classroom. Craig joined the faculty at Marist College in 1989 as an Information Systems professor. He was soon recognized by both faculty and students as a gifted professor, earning awards for both distinguished teaching and scholarship. He was the lead author of the textbook, Introduction of Information Quality, and authored more than 20 journal and conference papers. At Marist, Craig served as a faculty adviser for 21 years, mentor of the women’s basketball team for seven years, and founded the college chess club. Among many awards, Craig received the 2014 Outstanding Achievement Award in Data and Information Quality from the International Association for Information and Data Quality. He also served as the president of the 2003 MIT International Conference on Information Quality, and then continued to serve on the conference board of directors for eight years. In addition to his academic contributions, Craig was involved in his community. He served as president of the Vassar-Chadwick Club for 20 years, and as Deacon for many years at Immanuel Church in Wappingers Falls, NY. He also greatly enjoyed his time teaching chess at the Poughkeepsie Day School and in his Chess Nuts club at church. Even during the last two years of his life, which involved many very difficult medical challenges, Craig continued to reach out to friends, write a memoir, read voraciously, give generously, and meet regularly online with his church friends to pray. To those who knew him, he was an unstoppable force for good, and he will be dearly missed. Craig is survived by his three children. Dan and his wife Kristin live in Mebane, NC; Pam Covell and her husband Gregg live in Poughkeepsie, NY, and his son Rob lives in Wappingers Falls, NY. He is also survived by his two grandchildren, Lexi and Darrien Covell, who both live in Poughkeepsie. He is also survived by his brother, Tom Fisher, who lives in Portland, OR.  In lieu of flowers, memorial dontations can made to Immanuel Church, 253 Meyers Corners Road, Wappingers Falls, New York 12590. 
Visitation will be held September 8, 2023 from 4:00-8:00pm at the Timothy P. Doyle Funeral Home located on 371 Hooker Ave Poughkeepsie NY, 12603. Services will be held September 9, 2023 at 10:00am at Immanuel Church located at 253 Meyers Corner Road Wappingers NY 12590. Burial will be private and at the convenience of the family. to View the services you can click on the following link. https://www.facebook.com/125401824136702/live/