Benjamin R. Fisher Jr., PPG Industries vice president of corporate marketing and communications, died yesterday from an apparent heart attack. He was 50.
A Pittsburgh native, Fisher joined PPG as director of corporate marketing in 1995. He was elected vice president in December 2000.
Fisher previously was vice president, business development, of H.J. Heinz Co. He joined Heinz in 1977 as infant feeding product manager; was general manager of corporate planning; general manager of soups, sauces and vinegar; general manager of Weight Watchers' foods marketing; and then vice president of HeinzUSA's packaged goods division.
Fisher graduated in 1970 from Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, N.H. He graduated cum laude with a degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, where he later earned a master's degree in business administration from The Wharton School.
At the time of his death, Fisher was a deacon at Shadyside Presbyterian Church and a board member of the Carnegie Hero Fund, the Pittsburgh Foundation and Pressley Ridge Schools. Previously, Fisher was a board member of Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, Ellis School and board president of Fox Chapel Country Day School.
He is survived by his wife, Linda Crawford Fisher, and children, Benjamin R. Fisher III, 24, Katherine Wright Fisher, 21, Virginia Crawford Fisher, 18, and Chase Winslow Fisher, 12, all of Pittsburgh. He is the son of Lilian Hall Fisher of Naples, Fla., and the late Benjamin R. Fisher; grandson of the late Chester G. Fisher, founder of Fisher Scientific Co.; brother of Margaret Fisher Blackburn of Naples, Fla., Christine Fisher Allen of Raleigh, N.C., and the late Coburn Hall Fisher; brother-in-law of James Slater Crawford IV of Meadville and Lola Virginia Crawford of Pittsburgh.
Visitation will be Wednesday from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. at the H. Samson Funeral Home, 537 N. Neville St., Oakland. Funeral service will be Thursday at 11 a.m. at Shadyside Presbyterian Church. Interment is private. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations to the Linda and Ben Fisher Fund at the Pittsburgh Foundation.
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