Leadership

Assisting Oregonians With Physical Disabilities Since 1981

LEADERSHIP

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President - Michael Parker, West Linn
Secretary - Melanie R. Carlone DPT, Eugene
Treasurer - Angie Burnett, Newberg
Member - Kim Davidson-Ruby, Eugene
Member - Susan Weiland, Cottage Grove
Member - David Wurts, Cottage Grove

STAFF

Executive Director - Kristin Fay Venus, Eugene

Blanche Fischer: HER WONDERFUL BEING AND LEGACY

Blanche in her youth

Blanche Scroggins was born on November 7 in Long Creek, Oregon. Because she would never ask a lady’s age, we will not disclose the year of her birth. Blanche graduated from Long Creek High School and was, no doubt, a popular student. There is also no doubt that she was very bright.

As kids generally do, she left the small, rural town of Long Creek and moved “where the action is”—to the Willamette Valley. She married well when she wed Harvey Fischer in the ‘50s. Together, they built a successful real estate business and toggled their lives between Portland and Lincoln City. (While it remains unclear whether Harvey passed away or they divorced, Blanche eventually left Portland and chose to live the remainder of her life in her beachfront home in the Taft section of Lincoln City.)

She soon realized that the tiny Lincoln City Library needed more space, so she bought the library a “home” right down the street from her. It was there that the Driftwood Library (https://www.driftwoodlib.org/libraryfoundation.php) remained until it moved to its present site in 1993. According to Sue Jenkins, former Library Director, Blanche would drop in at the library with frequency. Not surprisingly, Sue recollected that Blanche was dedicated, pragmatic, “a bit irreverent” and very funny. We encourage visits to the library at 801 NW Hwy. 101 in Lincoln City. What a wonderful legacy to Blanche! While you’re there, check out the Blanche Fischer Room.

It is a little known fact that Blanche Fischer was instrumental in the formation of the Oregon Community Foundation (OCF). To this day, OCF operates behind a trust similar to the one that sustains the Blanche Fischer Foundation.