Iris M. "Paddy" Fiske, a business owner and a community volunteer who was a World War II veteran, died Sept.13 at St. Francis Home in Tiffin. She was 95.
Mrs. Fiske suffered from severe dementia, her son Rex said. She lost her entire life's memory, except for the Blitz, the months when German bombers pounded London in nightly raids in 1940, her son said.
She co-owned and operated Jeffrey Jewelry Co., which she and her late husband, Hugh, opened in Tiffin soon after World War II. She helped run the business for 27 years, from the late 1940s when they opened it, until the mid-1970s, when she sold it after her husband died.
"She loved her family more than anything. That was her primary focus. And she always looked on the bright side of things. She could always find a silver lining in any cloud," her son said.
"The other thing that stands out in my mind is that she had the largest vocabulary of any person I've ever met. And she could play any music on the piano by ear," he said.
In retirement, Mrs. Fiske volunteered to help developmentally challenged children at the former Betty Jane facility in Tiffin. She also was a volunteer at what now is Mercy Health Tiffin Hospital.
Mrs. Fiske was born May 27, 1922, in London to George and Doris Davidson.
She was raised in Illford, Essex, where she attended school. Later, while in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, Mrs. Fiske met Hugh Fiske, a member of the U.S. Army's 29th Infantry Division, which had landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. They were married Feb. 27, 1945, in London. He died in 1974.
More than a quarter-million women served in the WAAF during World War II, most as volunteers. Their work included everything from cooking and meteorology to administrative duties and maintaining and repairing aircraft, according to the Royal Air Force Museum's website.
During the war, Mrs. Fiske got to shake hands with the late King George VI when he visited her unit during the Blitz, her son said.
After the war, Mrs. Fiske came to the United States to be with her husband. She became an American citizen in 1949.
Her hobbies included reading, playing piano, and traveling. She had been to England, France, Italy, New Zealand, and Russia.
She was a member of the Daughters of the British Empire, Sir James M. Barrie Chapter, Toledo. Her other memberships included Friends of the Library, also in Toledo.
Surviving are her sons, Rex, Barry, and Brian; seven grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren.
Besides her husband, she was preceded in death by a daughter, Lorna Huffman.
There will be no formal visitation or services. Arrangements are by the Engle-Shook Funeral Home, Tiffin
Mrs. Fiske suffered from severe dementia, her son Rex said. She lost her entire life's memory, except for the Blitz, the months when German bombers pounded London in nightly raids in 1940, her son said.
She co-owned and operated Jeffrey Jewelry Co., which she and her late husband, Hugh, opened in Tiffin soon after World War II. She helped run the business for 27 years, from the late 1940s when they opened it, until the mid-1970s, when she sold it after her husband died.
"She loved her family more than anything. That was her primary focus. And she always looked on the bright side of things. She could always find a silver lining in any cloud," her son said.
"The other thing that stands out in my mind is that she had the largest vocabulary of any person I've ever met. And she could play any music on the piano by ear," he said.
In retirement, Mrs. Fiske volunteered to help developmentally challenged children at the former Betty Jane facility in Tiffin. She also was a volunteer at what now is Mercy Health Tiffin Hospital.
Mrs. Fiske was born May 27, 1922, in London to George and Doris Davidson.
She was raised in Illford, Essex, where she attended school. Later, while in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, Mrs. Fiske met Hugh Fiske, a member of the U.S. Army's 29th Infantry Division, which had landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. They were married Feb. 27, 1945, in London. He died in 1974.
More than a quarter-million women served in the WAAF during World War II, most as volunteers. Their work included everything from cooking and meteorology to administrative duties and maintaining and repairing aircraft, according to the Royal Air Force Museum's website.
During the war, Mrs. Fiske got to shake hands with the late King George VI when he visited her unit during the Blitz, her son said.
After the war, Mrs. Fiske came to the United States to be with her husband. She became an American citizen in 1949.
Her hobbies included reading, playing piano, and traveling. She had been to England, France, Italy, New Zealand, and Russia.
She was a member of the Daughters of the British Empire, Sir James M. Barrie Chapter, Toledo. Her other memberships included Friends of the Library, also in Toledo.
Surviving are her sons, Rex, Barry, and Brian; seven grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren.
Besides her husband, she was preceded in death by a daughter, Lorna Huffman.
There will be no formal visitation or services. Arrangements are by the Engle-Shook Funeral Home, Tiffin
Iris M. "Paddy" Fiske, a business owner and a community volunteer who was a World War II veteran, died Sept.13 at St. Francis Home in Tiffin. She was 95.
Mrs. Fiske suffered from severe dementia, her son Rex said. She lost her entire life's memory, except for the Blitz, the months when German bombers pounded London in nightly raids in 1940, her son said.
She co-owned and operated Jeffrey Jewelry Co., which she and her late husband, Hugh, opened in Tiffin soon after World War II. She helped run the business for 27 years, from the late 1940s when they opened it, until the mid-1970s, when she sold it after her husband died.
"She loved her family more than anything. That was her primary focus. And she always looked on the bright side of things. She could always find a silver lining in any cloud," her son said.
"The other thing that stands out in my mind is that she had the largest vocabulary of any person I've ever met. And she could play any music on the piano by ear," he said.
In retirement, Mrs. Fiske volunteered to help developmentally challenged children at the former Betty Jane facility in Tiffin. She also was a volunteer at what now is Mercy Health Tiffin Hospital.
Mrs. Fiske was born May 27, 1922, in London to George and Doris Davidson.
She was raised in Illford, Essex, where she attended school. Later, while in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, Mrs. Fiske met Hugh Fiske, a member of the U.S. Army's 29th Infantry Division, which had landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. They were married Feb. 27, 1945, in London. He died in 1974.
More than a quarter-million women served in the WAAF during World War II, most as volunteers. Their work included everything from cooking and meteorology to administrative duties and maintaining and repairing aircraft, according to the Royal Air Force Museum's website.
During the war, Mrs. Fiske got to shake hands with the late King George VI when he visited her unit during the Blitz, her son said.
After the war, Mrs. Fiske came to the United States to be with her husband. She became an American citizen in 1949.
Her hobbies included reading, playing piano, and traveling. She had been to England, France, Italy, New Zealand, and Russia.
She was a member of the Daughters of the British Empire, Sir James M. Barrie Chapter, Toledo. Her other memberships included Friends of the Library, also in Toledo.
Surviving are her sons, Rex, Barry, and Brian; seven grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren.
Besides her husband, she was preceded in death by a daughter, Lorna Huffman.
There will be no formal visitation or services. Arrangements are by the Engle-Shook Funeral Home, Tiffin
Mrs. Fiske suffered from severe dementia, her son Rex said. She lost her entire life's memory, except for the Blitz, the months when German bombers pounded London in nightly raids in 1940, her son said.
She co-owned and operated Jeffrey Jewelry Co., which she and her late husband, Hugh, opened in Tiffin soon after World War II. She helped run the business for 27 years, from the late 1940s when they opened it, until the mid-1970s, when she sold it after her husband died.
"She loved her family more than anything. That was her primary focus. And she always looked on the bright side of things. She could always find a silver lining in any cloud," her son said.
"The other thing that stands out in my mind is that she had the largest vocabulary of any person I've ever met. And she could play any music on the piano by ear," he said.
In retirement, Mrs. Fiske volunteered to help developmentally challenged children at the former Betty Jane facility in Tiffin. She also was a volunteer at what now is Mercy Health Tiffin Hospital.
Mrs. Fiske was born May 27, 1922, in London to George and Doris Davidson.
She was raised in Illford, Essex, where she attended school. Later, while in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, Mrs. Fiske met Hugh Fiske, a member of the U.S. Army's 29th Infantry Division, which had landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. They were married Feb. 27, 1945, in London. He died in 1974.
More than a quarter-million women served in the WAAF during World War II, most as volunteers. Their work included everything from cooking and meteorology to administrative duties and maintaining and repairing aircraft, according to the Royal Air Force Museum's website.
During the war, Mrs. Fiske got to shake hands with the late King George VI when he visited her unit during the Blitz, her son said.
After the war, Mrs. Fiske came to the United States to be with her husband. She became an American citizen in 1949.
Her hobbies included reading, playing piano, and traveling. She had been to England, France, Italy, New Zealand, and Russia.
She was a member of the Daughters of the British Empire, Sir James M. Barrie Chapter, Toledo. Her other memberships included Friends of the Library, also in Toledo.
Surviving are her sons, Rex, Barry, and Brian; seven grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren.
Besides her husband, she was preceded in death by a daughter, Lorna Huffman.
There will be no formal visitation or services. Arrangements are by the Engle-Shook Funeral Home, Tiffin
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