George Fisher, 69, loved to coach umpires

George (Butch) Fisher, a former umpire for student athletes and professional baseball players, died of lung cancer on Wednesday at his home in Stacy, Minn. He was 69.

The St. Paul native, a fixture in baseball officiating around the metro area, including in the Saints' Northern League, spent countless hours of his own time teaching new umpires during his 40-year career.

Two of Fisher's protégés in the St. Paul amateur leagues went on to become Major League Baseball umpires: Jeff Nelson, who grew up in Cottage Grove, and Tim Tschida, also a St. Paul native.

Tschida said that Fisher spent a lot of time talking with young umpires.

"He was the world's greatest umpire cheerleader. He always wanted to help anybody who wanted to be an umpire, be a better umpire," Tschida said. "He did it in an unobtrusive manner. His satisfaction came in seeing your success."

When Major League Baseball locked out umpires in 1995, the April 20, 1995, Star Tribune reported that Fisher and others were asked to work in Major League Baseball. Fisher declined out of respect for Tschida, according to the report.

In the early 1960s, Fisher began his professional career umpiring in the Midwest and Texas minor leagues. After three years on the road, he returned to St. Paul so he and his wife, Linda, of Stacy, could start a family.

Once back, he umpired amateur, high school and college games, including for the Gophers. He last took to the field in the 1990s.

For more than 12 years he was the supervisor of umpires in the Northern League. This past year he supervised umpires in the South Coast League of Professional Baseball with teams in Florida, North Carolina and Georgia.

Nelson said he learned much from Fisher. "Butch was my mentor. He was the gold standard of baseball umpiring in Minnesota and just a tremendous guy" because he generously gave of his time to young umpires, Nelson said.

Fisher taught umpires the skill of positioning themselves just right so they would see the play. He also coached umpires on the art of dealing with angry managers and players, said Dave Wright, a former Saints front office man and umpire who worked with Fisher.

Fisher would tell his apprentices: "Pretend you're not nervous. You have to be the calmest guy out there," said Wright. "He knew how to handle people."

After Fisher graduated from St. Paul's Harding High School, he earned a degree at Indiana State University, Terre Haute, while on a gymnastics scholarship. After college, in the late 1950s, he nearly qualified as an alternate on the U.S. Olympic team, said his wife.

In addition to Linda, his wife of 39 years, he is survived by his son, Shawn, of Braham, Minn.; sisters Mary Uren, of Texas, and Judy Lunzer, of Lindstrom, Minn., and three grandchildren.

Services will be held at 10 a.m. today at Wulff Funeral Home, 1485 White Bear Av., St. Paul.

Ben Cohen • bcohen@startribune.com