David Fisher

Longtime Southold summer resident David Fisher died Sept. 27 at the age of 83.

Mr. Fisher and his family had maintained homes in Southold and New York City since 1957. While enjoying a lifelong love of sailing and golf, he was also a regular duplicate bridge player in both Southold and in New York City. In addition, he invented a variant of the game of croquet using largely homemade mallets and hazards, and affectionately referred to by many as “Crazy Croquet.”

Mr. Fisher, the son of Florence and Jack Fisher, was a graduate of the Clark School, Washington & Lee University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. It was at Washington & Lee that he met Carolyn Haag of New Orleans and Louisville, Ky. They worked together at Camp Glen Laurel in Little Switzerland, N.C., married in 1955 and made a home in New York’s Greenwich Village and, later, the Upper West Side.

He was founder and CEO of Exhibit Corporation, which designed and produced exhibits for expositions, museums and trade fairs. He was a longtime member of the New York Mycological Society and, together with Carolyn, a lifelong subscriber to a number of New York’s off-Broadway theater companies. The Fishers traveled extensively, touring monuments in North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

During his retirement Mr. Fisher spent many years as a tutor at The International Center, which helps resident aliens improve their English language skills.

Family members said he was known for his love of the natural world, his fondness for determined people with eccentric interests and his amusement at the self-defeating antics of all humanity, including himself.

Mr. Fisher is survived by his wife, two sons and three grandchildren.

Arrangements were handled by DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Home in Southold.