David Fischer, who served as Mayor of St. Petersburg for 10 years from 1991 until 2001, has passed away peacefully, his daughter announced Wednesday. He was 92.
Fischer was the city of St. Pete’s first strong Mayor, meaning his predecessors served as leaders of the City Council while a City Manager ran day-to-day city operations while he and all of his successors served as the city’s chief executive.
“Nice long life,” his daughter, Susan Fischer McGarry wrote of her father. “First strong Mayor of St Petersburg, overall extraordinary, 3 term Mayor and civic leader who will be greatly missed.
McGarry pointed to the more than 10,000 (18,000, to be specific) trees he had planted in the city as its “tree czar.”
“He leaves an incredible legacy of philanthropy and development of the City, supporting many organizations relative to education, minorities, children, church, animals and the arts. Love you Dad,” McGarry wrote.
Fischer is the city’s longest-serving Mayor and led the city through a number of generational changes, including welcoming the then-Tampa Bay Devil Rays for its inaugural season. He is also credited with ending the city’s “water wars,” which pit municipalities in the Tampa Bay area against one another over access to regional water supplies. It led to the formation of Tampa Bay Water.
Former Mayor Rick Baker, who succeeded Fischer in office and served as a volunteer advisor to Fischer through his entire tenure in office, called Fischer a “dear friend and a great mentor.”
“He was a tremendous leader and cared a lot about St. Pete,” Baker told Florida Politics.
Fischer was not a St. Pete native. He was born in Evanston, Illinois, and also spent time growing up in New York. He attended Duke University in the mid-1950s and served as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force in the late 50s, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Fischer also worked briefly on Wall Street before he moved to St. Pete in 1960, where he lived until his death Wednesday.
Before being elected Mayor, Fischer served on City Council from 1975 until 1979.
Fischer is preceded in death by his wife, Margo, who passed away in 2005. She was also involved in politics as a former state lawmaker.
Tributes to the Fischer family rolled into McGarry on Facebook as news spread of the former Mayor’s death. Most offered condolences, and many praised Fischer for a life well-lived and his dedication to lifting and empowering others.