James Fisher

James Fisher, age 80 of Belle Fourche and formerly Timber Lake, died Saturday, August 12, 2023.

An open house visitation will take place Thursday, August 17^th, 2023 at Leverington Funeral Home of the Northern Hills in Belle Fourche.  Jim’s family will receive friends from 10:30 am until 12 noon.  Inurnment will take place at Black Hills National Cemetery, with military honors provided by the Belle Fourche Veterans Honor Guard.  Friends may leave written condolences online at: www.LeveringtonFH.com

James Lynn Fisher was born August 10, 1943 in Birmingham, Alabama.  He was the son of Joseph and Billie (Camp) Fisher.  In 1944, Jim moved with his family to the Timber Lake area, where he grew up on the family ranch located northwest of town.  Jim graduated from the Timber Lake High School in May of 1961.  He worked at the pool hall and the hardware store in Timber Lake, until 1964 when he entered the U.S. Army.  Jim served his country from September of 1964 until August of 1967.  Following his service, he worked at the Washington Corrections System and the McNeil Island Correction Center from 1968 to 1982.  On December 2, 1968 he was united in marriage to Sylvia O’Donnell in Tigard, Oregon.  To this union 2 children were born: Mike and Valerie.  Following their marriage Jim and Sylvia moved to Timber Lake where they owned and operated Fisher Hardware for many years.  Jim was the Dewey County Sheriff from January, 1991 until June of 2005 when he retired.  Even though he was retired, Jim continued to work with his wife in the Dewey County Sheriff’s Department.  She finally retired in 2011 and they moved to Belle Fourche.  In December of 2014, Sylvia passed away. 

Jim was an intelligent man who played very good poker.  Jim and Sylvia competed in many area poker tournaments, and Jim was always talented at knowing what cards had been laid down.  Jim was also a stubborn man and a proud man.  He took great pride in his work as a county sheriff, and he was very well respected for it.  Jim also loved the sport of golf.  In fact he loved it so much as a fan, that he kept statistics of every kind on most of the PGA players. 

Jim is survived by his daughter, Valerie (Rod) Vinyard of Grants Pass, OR; son, Mike (Lisa) of Pleasanton NE; 5 grandchildren, Meghan, Chelsea, Jessica, Logan, and Lainey; 4 great grandchildren, Elyse, Brie, Canaan, Nixon; sister, Lori (Pat) Cameron of Grants Pass OR; and brother, Skeeter (Diane) Fisher of Meridian ID.  He was preceded in death by his parents; wife; and brother, Dale.