Thomas Fishbaugher

Thomas Lester Fishbaugher, age 71, lifelong resident of Fillmore County, Minn., died Sunday, March 11, 2018. at St. Marys Hospital in Rochester, Minn. Memorial services will be 11 a.m., Monday, May 14th at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, Granger, Minnesota. Friends may call from 4-7 p.m. on Sunday at the Lindstrom Funeral Home in Harmony and from 10 am until service time at the church.  Inurnment will be 1 p.m. at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery in Preston, Minnesota.

Thomas was born on May 14, 1946, in Lanesboro, Minn., to Francis “Fuzz” and Alberta (Lange) Fishbaugher.  He grew up in rural Harmony, Minn., on the family farm and graduated with honors from Harmony High School in May 1964.  After graduating high school, Tom attended Winona State College in Winona, Minn., graduating in May of 1968 with a bachelor’s degree (with honors) in bio-chemistry.

On December 23, 1968, Thomas married Barbara Lee Matson at Greenfield Lutheran Church in Harmony, Minn.  Shortly after their marriage, Tom and Barb acquired the farmland and home adjacent to Tom’s parent’s farmland and homestead and raised their family there.

Thomas was drafted into the United States Army and served in the Vietnam War from September 1968 until July 1970.  He earned the ranking of Staff Sergeant (E-6), was a member of the First Air Cavalry Division and saw heavy combat while serving in the infantry as a machine gunner.  Tom was a sharpshooter while in the Army, becoming an expert with many weapons, including the M-14, M-16 and the M-60.

Thomas was a highly decorated veteran and was honorably discharged in 1970, having received a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, 2 Air Medals (for completion of 60-or-more Combat Assaults), Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Medal, Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, Vietnam Campaign Medal, 3 Presidential Citations, and a Decoration of Valor. His photograph/image as a member of the Army can be seen in or on the covers of many Vietnam War related books, magazines and publications and even can still be seen in today’s social media and video games.

Upon his return from serving in Vietnam, he resumed the operations of the family farming business alongside his father, Francis.  Thomas also was employed for many years at the Granger State Bank of Granger, Minn., and the First Southeastern Bank of Harmony, Minn.

Thomas is survived by his daughter Sandra (Kyle) Miller, and two grandchildren, Drew Miller and Paige Miller, all of Kewaskum, Wis.; his son Joseph (Nichole) Fishbaugher, and two stepgrandchildren, Jaden Olson and Mia Mendel, all of Brookings, S. Dak.; his sister Genny Hanson, of Preston, Minn.; and a maternal cousin, Carolyn Kuester, of Kalamazoo, Mich.; two nephews, Keith Hanson of Spring Valley, Minn., and Kyle Hanson, of Cresco, Iowa.  He is also survived by his former wife, Barbara (Matson) Fishbaugher, along with many lifelong friends and colleagues (especially Rich Bjortomt and Don Bellingham), and his beloved morbidly obese cat, Earl, who resides in Kewaskum with Sandra’s family.

Thomas was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents Lester and Clara (Miller) Lange; paternal grandparents Patrick Devine and Ella Mae Fishbaugher; parents Francis “Fuzz” and Alberta (Lange) Fishbaugher; one maternal uncle, Emery Lange; and one maternal aunt, Estelle Lange.

Memorials/donations can be directed to the Wounded Warrior Project or to Tom’s grandchildren’s and/or stepgrandchildren’s college funds.

“His (Thomas’) life is a testament to the reality that not every name of every serviceman lost in Vietnam appears on the Vietnam Memorial… Thomas, too, was a casualty of war.”  U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs