The City of Armstrong is mourning the loss of a dedicated community member and volunteer.

Former two-term councillor and Armstrong Lions Club president Linda Fisher died Sunday, April 6, the result, her family said, of a major stroke.

Fisher celebrated her 75th birthday March 15 with family and friends.

She was first elected to Armstrong City Council in 2014 (then known as Linda Werner), and served a pair of four-year terms. She did not seek re-election in 2022.

Joining her as a rookie politician in 2014 was Steven Drapala, who remains a sitting councillor.

"Linda was one of the kindest people I have ever worked with," said Drapala. "She genuinely cared about everyone she interacted with and wouldn鈥檛 miss an opportunity to ask how you and your family were doing, and would share in whatever joy or sadness you had at the time. 

"This care was reflected in her decision-making around the council table, and she always had a way to ensure that everyone around the table remembered how decisions or indecision affected residents, holistically or as individuals, on a personal level."

Community meant a lot to Fisher. As a way of giving back, she joined the Armstrong Lions Club in 1991, and was president of the club six times, in 2010, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2020.

In 2019, the Armstrong Lions were joined by other Lions Clubs and its members from around the Okanagan at a rally to keep the Armstrong Lions Vision Centre from being moved by Interior Health to Vernon Jubilee Hospital, a loud rumour at the time.

"Please don't move it. It's really vital to our community, to our seniors," said Fisher in a 2019 interview with Black Press at the rally. "The money was raised in this valley for this facility. What, it's going to sit here empty?"

Interior Health said later in 2019 there was no plan to move the Vision Centre to VJH.

In 2024, Fisher and the Armstrong Lions Club spearheaded a fundraising campaign that resulted in more than $108,000 being raised to purchase a laser for the Vision Centre through the Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation.

Fisher was named Volunteer of the Year in 2022 at the annual Armstrong Spallumcheen Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards.

On social media, condolences poured in for the beloved Fisher, which touched the collective hearts of her family.

"She touched so many lives in this little town and knew so many people," said Fisher's family. "Thank you to everyone that passed along thoughts, prayers, and words. Your condolences are appreciated."

Fisher is survived by her husband, two children, and grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life for Fisher will be held Monday, April 28, at the Armstrong Legion.