Thursday, July 12, 2018

No Obituary Found for Myron Fister (yet)

My great-uncle Myron Benjamin Fister (1905-1986), posing with his saxophone in this undated picture.  Image courtesy of Tom Cairns.
My grandmother Margaret (Fister) Hartley's brother Myron was unknown to me until recently.  I haven't found an obituary for him but here is what I know about him so far:


  • He (and a twin sister Glady May Fister, whose fate is as yet unknown) were born August 20, 1905, to Benjamin and Mary Fister (likely in LaSalle County, Illinois, alternately in Newark, Kendall, IL).
  • He grew up in the Plano/Newark area of Kendall County, Illinois, which is just west of the larger Chicago metropolitan area.
  • He married Linnea Ruth Hedwall (1904-1993) on September 1, 1928 in Chicago.
  • He was living with his wife at his mother-in-law's house in Chicago near Washington Park in the 1930 Federal Census. He was working as an agent in an insurance office.
  • His only child, daughter Ruth Elaine Fister, was born on July 5, 1930, in Chicago.
  • 10 years later he and his small family were still living with his mother-in-law Hilda in the same place.  He was working as a service worker for the Root Bros manufacturing company.
  • As of July 1966 he was living at 9316 50th Ave, in Oak Park, IL, a little less than 10 miles west of his previous home.
  • His daughter Ruth Elaine Fister Johnson died October 12, 1969, at the young age of 39 in Midland, Michigan (she had one surviving daughter).
  • About 1971 he was made assistant band leader of the Valley of Chicago Shrine Band.  I think that further research on Myron should include information about his membership with the Scottish Rite/Shriner organization.
  • He died in Illinois on December 21, 1986 (likely in Lake Bluff, Lake, Illinois, midpoint between Chicago and Milwaukee, WI).
  • I find a record in the United States Public Records, 1970-2009 database of Myron Fister living in Traverse City, Traverse, Michigan, as of July 13, 2001.

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