Delores ‘Gayle’ (Hardin) Fisher
November 20, 1931 – October 22, 2021

Such a beautiful woman; never met a stranger; always smiling; she made the best pies; the epitome of ‘the more the merrier’; full of fun. These are just a few of the sentiments used to describe Delores “Gayle” (Hardin) Fisher, who passed peacefully at home with her family at her side, on October 22, 2021. Born in Scotia on November 20, 1931, to parents Harry and Ruby Hardin, she was the youngest of three kids and the only girl, next to her older brothers, Pat and George. She grew up along the Avenue of the Giants, swimming in the Eel River and nearby creeks, where she and her siblings attended elementary school and graduated from Fortuna High School at the age of 16. In school, she was voted homecoming queen and by all accounts, was the “prettiest girl in school,” as it was stated often by many of her classmates through the years. It goes without saying that Mathew “Moss” Fisher agreed, and they were married on January 1, 1951.

Moss and Gayle celebrated their anniversary every year by hosting a Gin Fizz New Year’s Day party at their home. It was always quite the event, a tradition the family has carried on even after the passing of Moss in 2009, after celebrating 58 years of marriage together.

Gayle worked seasonally at the Burl N Drift Shop, but her greatest joy was being at home to raise her five children. Moss and Gayle raised their family in a tiny cabin in Redcrest, on the land her Daddy gave them. It was at that special place that she built their home and devoted her time to her love of gardening, canning and scratch cooking - the best of country life. There will never be a better place in this world that we’ll call home.

If you were to pop in unexpected, you would be welcomed with a hug and a kiss, a highball, and an invitation to stay for dinner – she was notorious for making the best meals out of what she had in her cupboards.

Gayle was a wonderful story teller and we all enjoyed her tales. She would often tell us stories about traveling by train to San Francisco with her brother, George, as a young girl to watch a play, or of taking all the neighborhood kids to the river daily during summer and teaching them how to swim. In the winter, there were many trips to Fox Camp to play in the snow, ski and toboggan.

Gayle’s happiest times in life were spent with her family. Holiday meals were her favorite, and there was nothing quite like her Christmas Eve gathering, but really, any time family was together was a special time. Seeing all of her family together brought out her loving smile and that will be missed every day. Mawsie was the name given to her by her grandchildren, and she was lovingly referred to as “Ma” for short. She cherished the time spent with her 11 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren so much. Our family suppers often turned into sleepovers with the grandkids, and her time was spent reading them books, singing silly songs, making berry tarts, teaching them to how to cook and whistle and of course, there were always sugar rolled hotcakes for breakfast.

She is survived by her daughter, Jeanine & John Cathey and family, Larissa (Carl) Richardson and Josh Cathey; sons, Ross & Kaleen Fisher and family: Chelsie (Rob) Orr and Courtney (Jeff) Beilfuss, Daren & Darcy Fisher and family: Jordee (Dustin) Herrera, Kyrie (Ryan) Griggs, Kinsley (Matt) Widdoes; Reid & Terri Fisher and family: Tyson (Kacy) Fisher, Taylin (Brice) Titus and Tevyn Fisher; Eric Fisher and Dawnette Sweet and family; Lindsay Fisher and fiancé, Owen Goode. She was blessed with many other family and friends all of which adored her, too numerous to mention. The family would like to invite you to a celebration of life, on Saturday, November 20, which would have been her 90 birthday, at the Redcrest Community Center at 2 p.m.

We cannot thank her daughter, Jeanine and husband, John Cathey enough for taking such great care of Ma the past several years.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Delores Fisher’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.