Editor’s note: This is an extended version of the story in October/November 2025 Evansville Business.
Dec. 5 marks one year since Lisa Fisher passed away, and her longtime employer is honoring her legacy with a heartfelt nod.
The late speech-language pathologist, director of speech services, and vice president of clinical services spent her entire 34-year career at Easterseals Rehabilitation Center, which on Sept. 5 unveiled a memorial plaque at the nonprofit’s Bellemeade Avenue campus.
“There’s not many people that go to work for one company and stay,” says Lisa’s husband, Jeff Fisher. “And we all know she would still be here doing what she loved.”
“She was always professional, one of the easiest people to work with … was always very kind to everyone,” says Easterseals President and CEO Kelly Schneider. “She was great at brainstorming and generating ideas, and she could really quickly evaluate other people’s ideas and give constructive input.”
Fisher recruited contract therapists for Indiana’s First Steps program at Easterseals, transitioned the nonprofit to electronic medical records, and coordinated care when psychology services expanded. She also was instrumental in the development of the Neurodevelopmental Clinic (a partnership with Southwestern Behavioral Healthcare) and helped add more than 45 therapists to Easterseals. “What that means is that therapy sessions were provided by Easterseals last year. That’s over a thousand therapy visits every single week,” Schneider explains.
She also helped establish financial assistance programs — renamed in her honor — that have awarded 29 grants over three years. “We gave our first Lisa Fisher Memorial Scholarships to six physical therapy students,” Schneider says.
“I know she impacted thousands of lives, but she knew that scholarship program was something that was gonna help perpetuate all the programs here at Easterseals,” Jeff Fisher says.
