Donna K Fisher
Donna Kay Fisher
Tishomingo County will soon have high speed internet available for everyone.
Anyone who wants to be connected, will be connected!
April 9, 1949 - August 14, 2022
Daughter of Kay and Gene Fisher.
Loved by all who knew her.
Donna Fisher in Memphis Lawyer Magazine
While the Memphis Zoo has been a major Mid-South attraction for over a century, it did not begin its journey toward becoming the world class zoo it is today until it was ZAPPED in 1972 by a group of concerned citizens led by then Vanderbilt Law student, Donna Fisher.  That summer, through a series of newspaper articles printed in The Commercial Appeal, the Zoo drew a good deal of negative publicity, of all things, on account of its inability to police the Zoo's visitors.
It seems hard to imagine today, with the Zoo's fortress-like attractions, that visitors once pelted animals with sticks and other flying objects just to get a better glimpse of the animals in action.  “It was mainly ignorance,” says Donna Fisher, who recalls visitors feeding marshmallows and cotton candy to chimpanzees.
"The need to educate the public - that’s what drove us,” Fisher recalls, referring to the group of volunteers she organized under the name “Zoo Action Patrol,” better known as “ZAP.”  With the blessing (and gratitude) of the Zoo’s authorities, Fisher and her fellow ZAPPERS - teenagers and adult supervisors - set out to patrol the Zoo.  They picked up litter and monitored the cages.  They led tours and educated the public about the animals.  For financing, ZAP sold chopped apples and carrots, which had the added benefit of discouraging visitors from feeding the animals junk food.
Fisher graduated from law school in 1974 and went to work for the east Memphis labor and employment firm of McKnight & Hudson, but in her spare time she continued to work with ZAP for the betterment of the Zoo.  Although it started off as just a small group of volunteers, ZAP continued to evolve throughout the 1970s.  Its purpose also advanced from merely policing the Zoo to growing it, which is probably best reflected in its name change from “Zoo Action Patrol” to “Zoo Action Program.” To this end, Fisher and her fellow ZAPPERS began staffing the Zoo's first petting area and gift shop, “The Elephant's Trunk.”
The ZAP group worked quietly for years to improve the Zoo for both animals and visitors, but it eventually became clear that the Zoo was destined to become much more than originally envisioned. To reach its full potential, broader support base beyond the Zoo's mostly teenage volunteers was needed.  Thus, in 1981 ZAP merged with the dormant Memphis Zoological Society and prominent businessmen and women were recruited for the Zoo's development efforts. Fisher herself prepared the merger resolution berween ZAP and the Society and helped draft the Society's bylaws and first personnel policies.
After serving on its board of directors throughout the 1980s, Ms. Fisher was elected president of the Society in 1989, while simultaneously carrying on her law practice. During her presidency and throughout the 1990s, she assisted tirelessly in the effort to grow the Society’s membership and financial base.  She also helped coordinate many of the Zoo's most popular events, such as Zoo Lights, Zoo Boo, and a Run on the Wild Side.  Ms. Fisher was an Honorary Director for Life of the Memphis Zoological Society and served as a counsel in the law firm of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, where she represented management in labor and employment matters.
- Memphis Lawyer Magazine
While the Memphis Zoo has been a major Mid-South attraction for over a century, it did not begin its journey toward becoming the world class zoo it is today until it was ZAPPED in 1972 by a group of concerned citizens led by then Vanderbilt Law student, Donna Fisher.  That summer, through a series of newspaper articles printed in The Commercial Appeal, the Zoo drew a good deal of negative publicity, of all things, on account of its inability to police the Zoo's visitors.
It seems hard to imagine today, with the Zoo's fortress-like attractions, that visitors once pelted animals with sticks and other flying objects just to get a better glimpse of the animals in action.  “It was mainly ignorance,” says Donna Fisher, who recalls visitors feeding marshmallows and cotton candy to chimpanzees.
"The need to educate the public - that’s what drove us,” Fisher recalls, referring to the group of volunteers she organized under the name “Zoo Action Patrol,” better known as “ZAP.”  With the blessing (and gratitude) of the Zoo’s authorities, Fisher and her fellow ZAPPERS - teenagers and adult supervisors - set out to patrol the Zoo.  They picked up litter and monitored the cages.  They led tours and educated the public about the animals.  For financing, ZAP sold chopped apples and carrots, which had the added benefit of discouraging visitors from feeding the animals junk food.
Fisher graduated from law school in 1974 and went to work for the east Memphis labor and employment firm of McKnight & Hudson, but in her spare time she continued to work with ZAP for the betterment of the Zoo.  Although it started off as just a small group of volunteers, ZAP continued to evolve throughout the 1970s.  Its purpose also advanced from merely policing the Zoo to growing it, which is probably best reflected in its name change from “Zoo Action Patrol” to “Zoo Action Program.” To this end, Fisher and her fellow ZAPPERS began staffing the Zoo's first petting area and gift shop, “The Elephant's Trunk.”
The ZAP group worked quietly for years to improve the Zoo for both animals and visitors, but it eventually became clear that the Zoo was destined to become much more than originally envisioned. To reach its full potential, broader support base beyond the Zoo's mostly teenage volunteers was needed.  Thus, in 1981 ZAP merged with the dormant Memphis Zoological Society and prominent businessmen and women were recruited for the Zoo's development efforts.  Fisher herself prepared the merger resolution berween ZAP and the Society and helped draft the Society's bylaws and first personnel policies.
After serving on its board of directors throughout the 1980s, Ms. Fisher was elected president of the Society in 1989, while simultaneously carrying on her law practice. During her presidency and throughout the 1990s, she assisted tirelessly in the effort to grow the Society’s membership and financial base.  She also helped coordinate many of the Zoo's most popular events, such as Zoo Lights, Zoo Boo, and a Run on the Wild Side.  Ms. Fisher was an Honorary Director for Life of the Memphis Zoological Society and served as a counsel in the law firm of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, where she represented management in labor and employment matters.
- Memphis Lawyer Magazine
While the Memphis Zoo has been a major Mid-South attraction for over a century, it did not begin its journey toward becoming the world class zoo it is today until it was ZAPPED in 1972 by a group of concerned citizens led by then Vanderbilt Law student, Donna Fisher.  That summer, through a series of newspaper articles printed in The Commercial Appeal, the Zoo drew a good deal of negative publicity, of all things, on account of its inability to police the Zoo's visitors.
It seems hard to imagine today, with the Zoo's fortress-like attractions, that visitors once pelted animals with sticks and other flying objects just to get a better glimpse of the animals in action.  “It was mainly ignorance,” says Donna Fisher, who recalls visitors feeding marshmallows and cotton candy to chimpanzees.
"The need to educate the public - that’s what drove us,” Fisher recalls, referring to the group of volunteers she organized under the name “Zoo Action Patrol,” better known as “ZAP.”  With the blessing (and gratitude) of the Zoo’s authorities, Fisher and her fellow ZAPPERS - teenagers and adult supervisors - set out to patrol the Zoo.  They picked up litter and monitored the cages.  They led tours and educated the public about the animals.  For financing, ZAP sold chopped apples and carrots, which had the added benefit of discouraging visitors from feeding the animals junk food.
Fisher graduated from law school in 1974 and went to work for the east Memphis labor and employment firm of McKnight & Hudson, but in her spare time she continued to work with ZAP for the betterment of the Zoo.  Although it started off as just a small group of volunteers, ZAP continued to evolve throughout the 1970s.  Its purpose also advanced from merely policing the Zoo to growing it, which is probably best reflected in its name change from “Zoo Action Patrol” to “Zoo Action Program.” To this end, Fisher and her fellow ZAPPERS began staffing the Zoo's first petting area and gift shop, “The Elephant's Trunk.”
The ZAP group worked quietly for years to improve the Zoo for both animals and visitors, but it eventually became clear that the Zoo was destined to become much more than originally envisioned.  To reach its full potential, broader support base beyond the Zoo's mostly teenage volunteers was needed.  Thus, in 1981 ZAP merged with the dormant Memphis Zoological Society and prominent businessmen and women were recruited for the Zoo's development efforts.  Fisher herself prepared the merger resolution berween ZAP and the Society and helped draft the Society's bylaws and first personnel policies.
After serving on its board of directors throughout the 1980s, Ms. Fisher was elected president of the Society in 1989, while simultaneously carrying on her law practice. During her presidency and throughout the 1990s, she assisted tirelessly in the effort to grow the Society’s membership and financial base.  She also helped coordinate many of the Zoo's most popular events, such as Zoo Lights, Zoo Boo, and a Run on the Wild Side.  Ms. Fisher was an Honorary Director for Life of the Memphis Zoological Society and served as a counsel in the law firm of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, where she represented management in labor and employment matters.
- Memphis Lawyer Magazine
Cousin Donna
Donna and I liked to play games.  She was very competitive... very.  And she would cheat.  Well... we called it cheating, like in Scrabble when you make up a word and try to sneak it by without a challenge.  Many an hour we set on the screen porch of the cabin, usually with a minute glass to help prod one (me) into moving, and played a plethora of games, from cards to chess to Scrabble to UpWords.  Upwords became a habit once we discovered matches could be played online.  In the past two years, Donna and I played 285 games of UpWords, she in Memphis and me down the road in Iuka.  And we'd still question moves, using a side texting feature, though, with the digital version you really couldn't cheat, but still...

Donna was an esteemed attorney, a world traveler, a philanthropist and lover of nature... a prolific reader... a lover of theater and the symphony... a patron of many worthy causes - and quite a tap dancer - until insidious multiple sclerosis crept into her life.  You know if I had a nickel for every time I heard Donna complain... I wouldn't have a nickel.  I'm sure I'll write more, edit this... but you know, it's hard... and it's easy.  Donna was so self-reliant and self-determined all her life.  She was so brave... and no one will ever fault her for being anything but.  I miss you Donna.
- cousin Gary