Dolores Helen Fischer

Dolores Helen Fischer, aged 96, died peacefully in her home on March 27th, of 2026. A native Napan, the daughter of Helen Flaherty Fischer and Richard Louis Fischer of Napa, she graduated from St. John the Baptist Catholic School and Napa High School. She received her BA and MA from Stanford University in Spanish Literature and an MA in English and American Literature from the Jesuit University of San Francisco.

She began her high school teaching career at Calistoga High School in 1951; in 1953 she transferred to North High Bakersfield for two years; then worked for three years in the U.S. Embassy in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, as a military intelligence analyst for the Office of the Army Attache, Department of Defense.

Returning to Napa in 1958, following the death of her father, she resumed teaching full time at Redwood Junior High, then taught Spanish and English for Napa Valley College, until her retirement in 1991.

She was one of two recipients of the first MacPherson Distinguished Teaching Awards at Napa Valley College in 1987. She also received the Josephine Miles Fellowship to teach English Composition at the University of California at Berkeley in a one-semester experimental effort to use community college teachers in the university setting. She was Chairman of the Language and Developmental Studies Division for two years before retiring.

NVC faculty was required to participate in college matters, and Dolores took this responsibility very seriously, serving as vice-president and subsequently president of the faculty in the mid to late 70’s, a time of much controversy and disagreement as faculty opposed actions of the administration and the college Board of Trustees. Through her leadership and bold actions, resolutions of problems were achieved.

She initiated the College’s International Education Program, worked with faculty to internationalize the curriculum, and following retirement was a member of NVC’s Foundation. During her retirement, she was hired by the College to prepare their master plan, which she completed in 2002.

She attended St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, where she was involved in pro-life activities. She belonged to the Stanford Alumni Association and a variety of community groups including Napa Landmarks, Napa County Land Trust, Napa Republican Women, and the Napa County Historical Society.

Traveling was one of the loves of her life and she made many trips in the United States to visit friends. She made many more trips to Europe, South America, and the Far East to see the world. England, France, and Italy were her favorites for reasons she claimed she really could not explain, except that she felt at home there. “Perhaps England because of our common heritage, France because of its natural beauty, and Italy because the people were so full of life. I enjoyed Ireland and Germany - the countries my ancestors came from, but I felt closer to the three other countries. Makes no sense. I learned my mother’s family came from one of the original tribes of Ireland that was considered to this day to have been the fiercest of all. My father’s family came from Prussia. What a combination!”

She is survived by her first cousin Kathleen Fenton of Mission Viejo and second cousins John Sullivan, Thomas Sullivan, Dennis Sullivan, Sue Swafford and Mary Jo Harper. Many of her close friends have died over the years and she often said that losing so many was the hardest part of living so long.

Contributions in her name may be made to any pro-life group, the Napa Valley College Helen and Robert Fischer Scholarship for International Education, or Napa’s Kolbe Academy and Trinity Prep.

Visitation at Tulocay Cemetary on 4/14 from 3PM- 8PM. Rosary at 6PM at Tulocay. Funeral Mass on 4/15 at 11AM at St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, Napa. Burial to follow at Tulocay. 

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