David Lee Fish

David Lee Fish of Morganton, NC completed his 86 year long journey on June 13, 2015.  His positive Christian faith and family support will be greatly missed and fondly remembered by his loving wife of 62 years, Doreen, and their family: a daughter, Deborah Crawford and her husband, Jeffrey; sons, Myles Fish and Stephen Fish and his wife, Kathy; grandchildren, Daniel Lee and his wife, Bonnie, and their children, Carter and Hendrix; Graeme Lee and his wife, Christina, and their children, Nora and Addalyn; Lydia Hekman and her husband, Scott, and their children, Violet and Ezra; and Myles Fish, Jr., Corynne Fish, Bryan D’Zialo, and Margaret Fish.

Having been born September 5, 1928 in Plaistow, NH, David grew up in Newburyport, MA, and after high school graduation, he earned the ministry degrees of AB.Th., B.Div., M.Div. and D.Min.  Strongly supported by his wife, David founded the Diamond Hills Baptist Church in Mansfield, OH, and then pastored the Hillcrest Baptist Church of Columbus, OH, the First Baptist Church of Red Bank, NJ, and the Baptist Temple of Charleston, WV.  Retiring in 1994, he and his wife moved to Williamsburg, VA for eleven years, and then to Grace Ridge Retirement Community in Morganton, NC in 2005.

His pastoral career gave him opportunities to serve as President of the Ohio Baptist Convention (ABCUSA), to work with four wonderful congregations, to lead study groups in Israel, to participate in preaching missions in El Salvador and Nicaragua, to organize and lead several Christian medical missions to communities of extreme poverty in rural and urban Dominican Republic, and to help people in his communities find and follow Jesus Christ as Savior.

A memorial service to celebrate David’s life will be held at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, June 20, 2015 in the chapel of the First Baptist Church with Dr. Thomas A. Bland, Jr. officiating.  The family will receive friends in the church parlor following the service.

Sossoman Funeral Home is assisting the family with the arrangements.

Memorial contributions can be made at:  https://give.cru.org/0250662, For the Ministry of Steve and Jan Hobson, Campus Crusade for Christ, International Graduate School of Leadership, Manilla, Philippines

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5,6).