Surrounded by his loving children, Ricki Bruce Fisher quietly passed away in the early morning hours of November 2, 2023.

Ricki was born and raised in New Orleans, a city which greatly influenced his life and his taste for food, which he continued to master for the rest of his life.

Ricki was a man of many talents. His enthusiasm for mechanical things was evidenced by his knowledge of cars and motorcycles. If you were about to purchase a vehicle, Ricki could tell you all the pros and cons and steer you in the direction of what he considered a better choice.

While Ricki had many traits that could be remembered and emphasized, his most memorable trait was his ability to create and maintain lasting friendships. Throughout his life, Ricki kept in contact with long term friends and enjoyed mentoring peers through work. He maintained friendships with people from elementary school, his involvement in Young Judea, college, and work for his entire life. As his final days were approaching, he was determined to have a couple of days to call some of these friends and tell them goodbye. Being witness to some of these calls, his family’s knowledge of how much he was loved and respected was reinforced.

Ricki’s health odyssey began in his early 20’s, when he was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. From this, he developed cirrhosis and ultimately, liver failure. While nearing death in his early 50’s, he was granted a longer life through a liver transplant. He ultimately became connected and close friends with his donor’s family. Together they built a beautiful relationship and made lasting memories by attending Ricki’s family reunions, fishing trips and Texas football games. They shared a vested interest in the Donate Life organization and enjoyed several fundraising events and speaking engagements together. He was forever grateful to them for their gift.

After 14 lagniappe years, the health issues arose again. Now dealing with liver and kidney failure, Ricki was hopeful to be transplanted again. Following evaluations in San Antonio and Baltimore, the Johns Hopkins transplant team accepted Ricki and he was listed for a possible transplant. The celebration was short lived as he was then diagnosed with lymphoma. When dealing with the choices he was presented with, Ricki chose to go all in with the fight. He completed two rounds of therapy to find that the lymphoma was in remission. Unfortunately, his overall health continued to decline. Finally faced with the decision of whether to continue his six-day a week treatment routine, despite declining strength, he chose to enter hospice. Ricki spent his final days in hospice, surrounded by his loving family, making calls to his forever friends and listening to messages from loved ones.

Ricki was preceded in death by his parents, Jack and Dotsy Fisher. He is survived by his children, Julie and Jason Fisher and his siblings, Briann Shear (Melvin), Marc (Jimmie Kay), and Jodi Levitan, as well as many nieces and nephews.

Ricki asked that if you are inclined to make a donation to his memory, please make it to Donate Life Texas.

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