Vic Fischer, the last living Constitutional Alaskan, passed away Sunday in the age of 99 at his Anchorage home. He was 99.
Fischer was born within Berlin in Berlin and Moscow. The mother of his son was Russian while his dad was was an American reporter for foreign news. His father made a plea to Eleanor Roosevelt to get the family out of the Soviet Union. As Fischer later revealed his first beginnings in the democratic process began by having dinner with the White House with the president and the first lady. He was just 15 years old.
Fischer dropped out of his university studies to join the military during World War II. At the time of his departure Fischer was firmly committed to the principles that would define his life. They were values he described as humanistic and liberal which included a commitment to those who were vulnerable and fighting racism.
He moved to Alaska in 1950 and fought for the statehood of Alaska. Five years after, he was elected to assist in the drafting of Alaska’s constitution. Fischer was a guest speaker at the gathering of storytelling in 2015..
“Participating at the Constitutional Convention was a fabulous opportunity to be a part of the state’s building and democracy,” Fischer said.
Later, he was elected to the final territorial Legislature. He stated that his most important job was to co-author the repeal of the death penalty in Alaska.
“Which was extremely important to me, due to my aversion to states’ power to murder its citizens, which I had witnessed in Germany as well as in Russia,” Fischer said.
Fischer was a two-term member of the State Senate in the state Senate as a Democrat. Fischer was politically active until the end of his term, strongly opposing an unsuccessful attempt in the year 2000 to call an constitutional convention.
He also backed an unsuccessful effort to remove Governor. Mike Dunleavy, whose government-slashing agenda — as Fischer believed was against the spirit of the state constitution as well as the statehood achievements.
