The Observer
January 10, 1998
Bert Fish: Quite a man
By Jim Jones, editor of The Observer
You respond, "So, what else is new? Tell me something I don't know."
OK, what do you know about Bert Fish, the man after whom the hospital is named?
Take a few minutes to think about it.
While you’re thinking, I’ll hum an old Frank Sinatra tune, "Scoobie, Doobie doo, what were the chances..."
Time’s up. If you’re like me, even if you have lived here more than 10 years, you drew a blank. Chances are, you don’t know anything about Bert Fish.
The other day I came across a brochure dated October 1961 on The Fish Memorial Hospitals at DeLand and New Smyrna Beach. The brochure was compiled and edited by Major Joseph Caccavajo of DeLand.
According to Major Caccavajo, the Fish Memorial Hospitals in DeLand, New Smyrna Beach and the Fish Memorial Wing of the Sanford Hospital, were built through gifts of Judge Bert Fish, who died July 21, 1943 in Lisbon, Portugal, while serving as United States Minister to Portugal.
Here's what else Major Caccavajo had to say:
"During his lifetime of outstanding service he was the community's most distinguished citizen.
"Bert Fish won world-wide recognition for his outstanding service as U.S. Minister to Egypt from 1933 to 1941, with the additional post as Minister to Saudi Arabia from 1939 to 1941. Chosen by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in March 1937 as chairman of the United States delegation to the Conference at Montreaux, Switzerland, for the Revision of the Capitulatory in Egypt, he won acclaim by both the United States and Egyptian Governments for his fine work.
"With World War II raging, Portugal became one of the most important outposts of the Free World and the wide experience and marked ability of Judge Fish was recognized when in March 1941 he was presented with his credentials as American Minister to Portugal. He served in that capacity until his death two years later.
"Born in Bedford, Indiana, October 8, 1875, Bert Fish came to Florida with is parents in 1881. His early education was received in Volusia County public schools, and later in Stetson University, where he was graduated in the first law class in 1902. An outstanding student, he was president of his graduating class. In 1935 Stetson University conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Law.
"During his university career he taught school and was for a time principal of the DeLand High School.
"A long and colorful career in law and politics followed his college days. Fish was elected reading secretary of the State Senate in 1887 and again in 1899. He was school superintendent of Volusia County in 1900 but resigned in 1902 to enter a law partnership with the late Cary D. Landis, former Attorney General of the State of Florida, who was one of his instructors at Stetson. Later D.C. Hull, who is still in active law practice, became a member of the firm.
"Soon after his resignation as county school superintendent he was appointed county solicitor of the Criminal Court of Record for Volusia County. After two years he was elevated to judge of that court where he served with distinction for six years. Preceding his appointment by President Roosevelt as U.S. Minister to Egypt, Judge Fish traveled extensively, including a world-wide trip and several tours of Europe.
"Judge Fish had great faith in Florida and foresaw its growth into one of the leading states in the Union. With him actions spoke louder than words and as opportunity presented itself, he acquired extensive citrus groves and other properties in Volusia County and throughout Florida. He was intensely interested in everything in his home area and joined whenever possible with his fellow citizens in social as well as business activities. His affiliations in DeLand included honorary life chairman of the board of directors of the DeLand Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis Club, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Masons (32nd degree) Shrine, Sigma Nu and Phi Alpha Delta fraternities."
In 1961, most of the money which sustained the Fish Memorial Hospitals figuratively "grew on trees." The money came from more than 400 acres of citrus grove left by Judge Fish. Fish envisioned that the citrus crop would meet the operational deficits of the hospitals. Of course, Mother Nature could be fickle. The big freeze of 1957-1958 destroyed 100 acres of citrus and Hurricane Donna in 1960 caused some losses.
Fish Memorial Hospital opened Oct. 1, 1954. Initial cost: $342,000, far less than most of the major pieces of equipment in service today at the hospital. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment, for instance, sells for well over $1 million.
Nevertheless, the new brick hospital that opened in 1954 was a big improvement.
Frances Ford recalls that Fish Memorial Hospital replaced Sunny South Hospital, located in Edgewater.
"I took one look at that old two-story hospital and decided it wasn't for me," Mrs. Ford said Friday.
She opted instead to go to Halifax Hospital in Daytona Beach to give birth to her daughter, Teri.
A month later, Fish Memorial Hospital opened and Ellen Fuller was the first baby born there. Mrs. Ford said if Fish had been open earlier, Teri would have been the first baby born there. "It was fantastic," she says of the 1954 opening of the hospital.
She couldn't imagine it then, but Bert Fish has leapfrogged a staggering distance from 1954. Mrs. Ford is today more than a casual observer. She sits on the hospital board of directors.
As late as 1961, the hospitals were still voluntary, private and non-profit, supported not by taxes at public expense but by the Bert Fish Testamentary Trust. In other words, the Bert Fish Groves paid the freight.
Today, the Bert Fish Trust still makes a difference. Most recently, the trust came up with $47,000 to help the hospital and new Smyrna Beach High School start a health care academy. it also provided $100,000 to link data bases serving the indigent at various healthcare facilities, including emergency rooms, clinics and the health department. This money comes, mind you, not from your taxes, but the generosity and foresight of Judge Fish.
He was quite a man.
This article originally appeared in the
January 10, 1998 issue of The Observer
and is printed with permission