By Jennifer Edwards
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Friends of Peggy Fisher will go door to door today to help the young woman who unexpectedly lost her husband three weeks ago. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

FAIRFIELD TWP. - The Fisher family suffered the worst kind of loss.

James "Ty" Fisher was just 33 when he suddenly died Oct. 4 of an undetected heart disease, leaving his wife, an 8-week-old infant and two other young daughters, 6 and 4.

Peggy Fisher had planned to stay home with their babies - at least until they were in school. But 10 days after her husband's death, the family lost its health insurance.

And with no savings to fall back on, Peggy Fisher and her small girls may lose their four-bedroom house in the Weathered Oaks subdivision off Morris Road.

To help, her neighbors are hitting the streets today in light of the 13th anniversary of the national Make a Difference Day, a national day of helping others; a celebration of neighbors helping neighbors with deeds, from raking leaves to raising money for the needy.

Millions have participated; in 2002, an estimated three million people volunteered.

This year in Fairfield Township, the Fishers' neighbors are calling their event "Neighbors Helping Neighbors." About 20 residents - mostly young mothers and their children - plan to go door to door, asking for donations for the Fishers.

"We all try to be there for one another," said Michelle North, one of her neighbors. "We have all been blessed to find good friends in this neighborhood.

"It's hard to find people who care about one another in today's lifestyle. Everyone's so busy they sometimes don't slow down to take care of one another. But a caring community makes a huge difference in your life."

The goal is to raise enough money to help the family stay in the neighborhood and so Peggy Fisher can stay home with baby Callie at least a year. It's important, too, for Erika, 6, and Taylor, 4. Especially now.

"She would have stayed at home permanently until the kids were in school," said North, 39, who lives six houses down from the Fishers. "If she still can, that would be so much easier on everyone, especially for the emotional adjustment."

Soft-spoken, petite Peggy Fisher is stunned by the outpouring of support.

Friends, relatives and others already have donated about $5,000 to her or to a fund for the family at U.S. Bank.

Hot meals still show up at her house - or she and the girls find themselves invited to dine at someone else's table. One of the neighbors decorated her front porch in an autumn theme with pumpkins, corn and hay.

And this week, she applied for and received temporary medical cards for the girls from Butler County.

It's all tremendous comfort as she and the girls struggle to cope.

Peggy Fisher still can't believe her husband since 1994 is gone.

"He was a big teddy bear," Fisher, 32, said. "He would help anybody. If he didn't know how to help them, he would find a way to or someone who could."

The Fairfield High School graduate was a family man who loved his daughters and his niece, Samantha, 4. He was computer programmer for Warren County who couldn't wait for Christmas each year.

He loved it so much, he threw annual parties for the neighborhood children, cajoling one of his best friends to dress up as Santa. A month before he died, he bought a red Honda motorcycle he rode into the wind every chance he got.

The couple just had their third daughter. They were planning on vacationing this summer with friends in Grand Rapids, Mich. Ty Fisher wanted to put a pool in the back yard so the girls would learn to swim and wouldn't be afraid of the water.

Three weeks after his death, his wife still expects him to walk through the door every night after 5 p.m.

"I'm still walking around in a fog," Fisher said. "It's still not real."

They moved to Weathered Oaks about four years ago, quickly establishing close ties with their neighbors. There were volleyball games. Block parties. Bible studies.

Today, if it weren't for those neighbors, "and the support and all the food, I probably would be in a mental institution right now," Fisher said.

"I would have never envisioned all the support. Why would all these people care about me and my children?"

The answer is easy, the neighbors say. They see themselves in her place.

Many of the young mothers know it could have been them instead of Peggy Fisher burying their husband, left alone with small children - and no job and no savings.

They would want to turn to friends. The Golden Rule.

"We all put ourselves in that position," said Amy Neuss, 31. "It could have been one of us. It's been wonderful to see how much people care. It makes me want to stay here a long time."

Saturday's event also will help the Fishers get through what otherwise would be a dismal holiday season, one Peggy Fisher hopes to spend in her house.

"I don't want to leave," she said, describing how her husband decorated a bar in their basement in a "Star Wars" theme. "I don't feel like I can leave our house. It's something we all built together."

But on a sunny autumn Saturday, he slipped away. The day started out like any other; she was cleaning house, he rode his motorcycle. His parents and older sister came over for a visit.

He was talking with them when he dropped Taylor from his lap, convulsing into what appeared to be a seizure.

His relatives tried to help him breathe until rescue workers arrived to perform CPR.

Peggy had to leave the room: "I just couldn't listen to him die."

Through that dark day and others that followed, the love from her neighbors prompts her to believe her husband must be looking down on them from heaven, their guardian angel.

"I know he is keeping an eye on us and making sure everything is going to work for the best," she said.

Helping the Fishers

Today marks the 13th anniversary of a national event called Make a Difference Day - a celebration of millions of neighbors helping neighbors across the country. In Fairfield Township, neighbors and friends in the Weathered Oaks subdivision off Morris Road are holding their own "Neighbors Helping Neighbors" event. They plan to go door-to-door to raise donations for the Fisher family.

Ty Fisher, 33, suddenly died Oct. 4 of an undetected heart disease, leaving behind his wife, Peggy, 31, and three girls: Erika, 6; Taylor, 4 and Callie, 8 weeks old.

The family lost its medical insurance 10 days after his death and has no savings. Neighbors hope to raise enough money so the family can stay in the neighborhood and Peggy Fisher can stay home with her youngest baby at least a year, as she had planned before her husband died.

To help, call Lori Pater at (513) 894-3258 or Kim Wilson at (513) 869-8337.

A fund also has been established for the family under the name James T. Fisher at U.S Bank.

E-mail: jedwards@enquirer.com.