July 8, 1926 ~ March 8, 2016



Herald "Glen" Fishbach passed away peacefully at his beloved home in Laguna Beach on Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at the age of 89 years after several months of declining health.

Glen was born in Beatrice, Nebraska on July 8, 1926 to Oscar Fishbach and Ellen (Henthorne) Fishbach. His two older siblings were Mary Ellen (Diaz) Fishbach and Henry Henthorne Fishbach. The family left Nebraska when Glen was 6 months old and moved to West Covina, California. His father, Oscar, was the farm manager for Fishbach Farms Company in Saskatchewan, Canada, having broken the land in 1916. Though his father maintained his wheat farming interests, he became an orange rancher and the family lived on an orange grove in West Covina throughout Glen's childhood. Glen however maintained very close ties to Beatrice through extended summer visits, even attending a year of school there during 8th grade, and cultivating many lasting relationships with family and friends. Glen suffered from polio his senior year and was bedridden for 4-5 months. He often recalled his mother's loving care that helped him recover and graduate from Covina Union High School with his grade in 1944. It was during this bed-ridden time that he developed a love of reading, music and opera.

Glen attended Stanford University and graduated in 1949 with a degree in Political Science. He received an exchange scholarship to University College and London School of Economics for a year and then returned to Stanford for a year of graduate studies in Public Administration. He then completed a year-long internship with Coro Foundation in Municipal Affairs.

Though Glen had received a military waiver 4F for polio prior to this time, in 1952, he enlisted in the US Navy and was ultimately accepted for the officer training program and was stationed as a Communications Officer at the US Naval Facility in London, England until 1955. It was here that he met the woman who would become his wife of 62 years, Eileen Pavlova Sands, an actress. It was in part their love of music that drew them together. They met on a blind date set up by each of their close friends. After a short courtship, they were married in London and spent the first few years of their married lives there.

Upon returning to the US, Glen and Eileen moved to Sacramento where Glen worked for California State Personnel Board, Sacramento State College and the California Legislature. They had their first two children, Stephen and Andrea, while in Sacramento. From 1960-1963 Glen worked as a management consultant with Booz, Allen and Hamilton which involved a lot of travel throughout California, Washington state and Hawaii.

In 1963, Glen was recruited as the Peace Corps Deputy Director of India. He travelled throughout India visiting the 800 volunteers. Glen and Eileen had their third child, Alisa, while living in New Delhi. In 1966, Glen became the Peace Corps Director of Iran with 250-350 volunteers. During these years abroad, the family would take "home leaves" returning to visit Glen's family in Laguna Beach and Eileen's family in England by way of many other countries en route. In 1969, the family settled in Laguna Beach and Glen became the Peace Corps Western Regional Director until 1970. He then returned to consulting, for the Department of Education, State of Hawaii. This led to his next position as the Provost of Maui Community College from 1971-1975. Living on Maui was idyllic. In 1975, Glen and family returned to Laguna Beach and he made a career change working in the real estate industry, which he continued for 25 years. In 2014, a building he managed for decades in Laguna Beach at 1110 Glenneyre Street, was dedicated in his name, The Fishbach Building.

Throughout his life, he was deeply interested in politics and sports, notably baseball (the Angels!) and college football (the Stanford Cardinals!). He felt the commonality of these interests were the associations, histories, personalities, anticipation, disappointments and elation. He was an avid follower of political issues and watched many sporting events on TV (unless his team was losing terribly and he'd be known to turn off the game before it finished) and attended many of his grandchildren's sporting events.

He and Eileen loved to travel and he was a world traveler of the old school, bringing up his family with a world perspective. Highlights of his many travels include a Russian river cruise, visiting the Great Wall of China, extensive trips throughout the British Isles with Eileen's sister, and numerous trips throughout Asia and Europe.

He prioritized friendship and loyalty and maintained friendships with many people throughout his life. He was a devoted husband and father and his family was his main concern and happiness.

He is survived by his wife, Eileen; his sister, Mary Ellen Diaz; his son Stephen and his two daughters, Andrea and Alisa; sons-in-law Ben Calica and Tom Kosakowski; and his five grandchildren, Jake, Griffin, Thomas, London, and Emery.

A Celebration of Life will be held with family and friends in Laguna Beach in July.