Otis Fisher, a missionary who was calm in the face of danger

The Rev. Otis Fisher persevered in the face of danger while bringing his Christian faith to the Vietnamese.

Fisher, who served as a pastor for 56 years for the Christian Missionary Alliance, died on May 1 at his Burnsville home of an inoperable aneurism. He was 86.

Fisher served in Vietnam from 1951 to 1964, and from 1969 to 1972. There, he did evangelical work, built congregations and constructed churches, and taught at the Divinity School in Nha Trang.

"He had lots of energy, but was very laid back," said his son Jim, an Eagan resident who was born in Saigon. "Nothing seemed to ruffle his feathers," even when he was faced with the muzzle of a gun, said his son.

In the early 1960s, with family and congregants in his vehicle, he was stopped at a Communist checkpoint in northern South Vietnam. "My dad pulled over, and the guy lowered the machine gun at my dad," said his son. "The children in the back began singing. The guard said the only reason he didn't kill them was that the children were in the back of the car singing 'Jesus Loves Me.'"

Fisher grew up on a farm in western New York, and in 1942 earned an associate degree at the former Agricultural and Technical College in Alfred, N.Y. He went to work for other farmers, but by 1943 he felt called to be a missionary, his son said.

In 1949, he graduated from what is now Nyack College's seminary in New York. Over the years, he served in Long Island, N.Y.; Charles City, Iowa, Boone, Iowa, Bismarck, N.D., and from 1976 to 1981 at Minneapolis' old Grand Avenue Alliance Church.

"The way he taught, you could feel that every word came from the heart," Tran said. Not so much from his words, "but by the way he lived."

Even though Tran was the senior pastor, he said Fisher was his mentor, a humble and generous man.

"He trained the leaders of this church, humbly, and on his own time," he said.

Fisher enjoyed gardening and in recent years, taking care of his condominium complex's grounds.

In addition to his son Jim, he is survived by his wife of 65 years, Myra of Burnsville; three daughters, Carol Sours of Mason City, Iowa, Joyce Anderson of Minneapolis and Janice White of Marine on St. Croix; two other sons, Gordon of McGregor, Minn., and David of Alamo, Calif.; a brother, Max of Castile, N.Y.; a sister, Genevieve Hare of Castile, N.Y.; 13 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.