A community icon passes on: Bradford Fisk, 92, ran Corners Grocery, was an entertaining singer

By BERA DUNAU

Staff Writer

Published: 08-10-2021 8:54 PM

WORTHINGTON — Friends and family are remembering community icon Bradford Fisk, who owned Corners Grocery for 25 years, as a family man who entertained many with his singing voice. He died July 30 at age 92.

“He was the most wonderful guy and he will be missed immensely,” said Kelly Potter, one of Fisk’s seven children.

Fisk died at home as a result of cancer, surrounded by family in the same Worthington home he built in 1952 and had lived in since.

He is survived by his wife Judy Fisk, six of his children, 15 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.

Born on his family’s farm in Huntington, he had a construction business when he built his Worthington home. From 1970 to 1995, Fisk owned the Corners Grocery.

“It was the place to be,” Potter said. “My dad always had a joke or a story for people.”

John Newell, a friend of Fisk’s, also spoke highly of the Corners, lauding it as a social space. “It was the center of town,” he said. “Literally and figuratively.”

Newell, the former music director at the First Congregational Church of Worthington, praised Fisk’s abilities as a singer.

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“Brad could have been a professional singer,” Newell said. “He had that kind of voice.”

Potter also spoke about her father’s singing.

“He started singing when he was a kid,” she said. “He continued singing, either as a soloist or with a choir throughout his entire life.”

A member of the First Congregational Church, Fisk was a part of its choir, as well as the choirs of the First Church of Christ in Pittsfield and the First Congregational Church of Westfield. A tenor, Fisk sang “O Holy Night” for more than 45 years at his church’s Christmas Eve service.

“He sang the last ‘O Holy Night’ at church at the age of 90,” Potter said.

Newell added that Fisk also sang “Were You There” on Maundy Thursday.

“Those were the two high points of the church year … for a lot of people,” Newell said.

Potter said that Fisk enjoyed singing “It’s a Wonderful World” and “Moon River,” and that he sang while working at Corner Grocery.

“He was asked to sing the Lord’s Prayer at many weddings,” she said.

At the wedding of Newell and his wife, Linda Courtney, Fisk sang a song that Newell wrote for the occasion. The marriage was the second one for Courtney and Newell, and Courtney said that only their adult children and select friends were present.

“He was one of my favorite people,” Courtney said.

She said that Fisk was “always doing things to help people around town,” and that he was a great model for aging.

Fisk made a CD of his singing, for which Newell did the musical accompaniment, recording it at the Congregational Church and the Sevenars venue.

Newell said that Fisk was multitalented, and praised the sausage that Fisk made at Corners Grocery, which he described as the best he’s had in his life.

“I’ve never had anything like it,” he said.

Potter said that her father was a lifetime member of the Congregational Church. Two weeks before he died, he went to the church’s reopening, which had been closed to the public because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said there has been an outpouring of support from the community since her father passed, which she described as overwhelming in a good way.

A memorial service for Fisk is planned for the fall.

Newell described his friend as a wonderful person who will be missed, an assessment shared by Courtney.

“The tenor section in heaven just got a real boon,” Newell said.

Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com.

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