North Attleboro High School Alumni Association

Mark Fisher
Honorary Alumni Award
2010

It took a lot to get Mark Fisher away from the snack bar in the mid-1980s. After all, the concession stand was a primary fundraising venture for NA Pop Warner Football, and Mark had committed to working at the stand during varsity football games. However, one fateful Friday night at Community Field, Mr. Fisher, a certified EMT, was asked to join the varsity football team on the sideline in place of NAHS team physician Dr. DeYoung, whose hectic surgery schedule made him late for that night's kickoff. Mark agreed and continued to volunteer his time and expertise to the NAHS athletic department for the next twenty-five years, serving as a volunteer EMT, assistant trainer and manager. For his commitment to NAHS athletics, we honor him as the 2010 NAHS Alumni Association Honorary Alumni Award winner.

Mark Fisher has a long history of service to our town. After graduating from Bishop Feehan HS (1966) and Boston University (1970), Mark returned to North Attleboro and began serving as a call firefighter, fulfilling his boyhood dream to be a fireman. He became a permanent firefighter a short time later. In 1973 he joined the family business, Swift & Fisher, where he held many roles before selling the business in 2000. Although his primary career would be business, Mr. Fisher would continue to protect the safety of North Attleboro residents as a volunteer firefighter, Fire Science Instructor and member of the Fire Commission. In addition, Mr. Fisher served on the Park Commission and the Business and Industrial Commission, and he served on the Board of Selectmen from 1996 to 2005.

Mr. Fisher's involvement with the football team quickly grew to a commitment that saw him stopping by practice on his way home from work to check on the status of injured players. In addition, for several years, Mark used his personal vacation time to attend pre-season football camp with the team. For the coaching staff, Mark's willingness to devote so much of his personal time to the well being of the team was a godsend, especially since the school did not employ a full-time trainer. A former high school football player himself, Mr. Fisher also began joining the coaches on their weekly scouting trips, training his keen eye on the tendencies of the opposing team's tight end.

To the benefit of the entire athletic department, Mark's commitment to NAHS sports began to extend beyond the end of the football season. Soon Mr. Fisher became a fixture at home wrestling tournaments and basketball games, even though his own children were not participants in those sports. He continued to answer the call whenever former ADs Ray Beaupre and Paul Sullivan needed help. Also, Mr. Fisher volunteered to "chaperone" the annual mid-summer football captains' practices. Then principal Wilson Whitty recalls, "I knew I would be able to sleep at night with Mark Fisher watching over our student-athletes." In 1994, Mr. Fisher accepted the role as the official Football EMT.

Over the years, Mark Fisher developed a favorable reputation for his willingness to assist injured athletes, whether attending the event in an official capacity or not. Sean Fisher (1993), the eldest of the Fisher's five children, recalls the lasting memory that "no matter what game or match we were at — mine, my sisters', or anyone else's — if my father was in the crowd and there was an injury on the field or court, he was always one of the first people down to help the player. The injured player didn't have to be one of his kids or one of his kids' friends. My father was 'on duty' if an athlete needed assistance." Mr. Fisher enjoyed the years spent working with Dr. Daniel DeYoung, a 2008 Honorary Alumni Award winner, and Wayne Hitchcock, and he enjoyed his association with the student-athletes at North High. He also appreciates how easily the High School coaching staff made him feel welcome and how he was readily accepted into their circle. Mr. Fisher continues to monitor football captains' practices when Wayne Hitchcock is unavailable.

Today Mr. Fisher serves as the North Attleboro Town Administrator. He has been married to his wife Sheila for almost forty years, and they have five children: Sean (NAHS '93), Becky (BFHS '95), Katie (NAHS '98), Meg (NAHS '02) and Carrie (NAHS '04).