“Jadranka Fischer, 65, of Devon, who worked to increase awareness of the war in her native Croatia during the 1990s and raised money to support about 10 Croatian children orphaned during the war, died of lung cancer Tuesday, Sept. 11, at Paoli Hospital”, writes Philadelphia Inquirer.
Mrs. Fischer was the wife of Raoul Fischer, a retired marketing executive with Unisys Corp. in Blue Bell.
In 1992, an exhibition of photographs from the Croatian war organised by Mrs. Fischer was displayed in Washington and Philadelphia, her husband said.
Her brother, Miro Koerner, a war photographer who died in 1993, took most of the photos in the exhibit he said.
Supporting Croatian war orphaned children was a dedication that required constant efforts in fundraising over a number of years. Mrs Fischer’s death has brought back so many memories of those days in early 1990’s when Croatia was faced with hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons and help was nowhere close to adequate. Croatian diaspora helped enormously with fundraising for humanitarian aid but Mrs Fisher’s dedication to supporting war orphans represents an even higher selflessness than what donating hard earned money was. Supporting war orphans meant continuous and consistent hard work in fundraising for years, ensuring adequate regular sustenance reaches the Croatian children who had lost one or both parents in the Homeland War and whose future without such support was bleak indeed. I know, I too was a voluntary ‘trooper’ (from Australia) in the “Save the Children of Croatia” efforts during early 1990’s. And so, for late Jadranka Fischer, I repeat the words of George W. Douglas: “Each happiness of yesterday is a memory for tomorrow.”
The children to whose faces Mrs Fischer brought smiles and happiness shall never forget her, Croatia shall never forget her and the world should remember her and replicate her good deeds. Ina Vukic, Prof. (Zgb); B.A., M.A.Ps. (Syd)
Jadranka Fischer is one of our unspoken war heroes. Her tireless efforts shows the depth of her compassion of love for not only our children but for the love of our country and it’s future. Her sacrifices were tremendous as she faced the hardship of losing a brother to the war as she continued to care for those who needed us the most. She had worked tirelessly with out fan fare for our children.For this she shall always be remembered as one of our heroes and I pray for the healing of her family during this time. May gods love be with her family, strengthen them and their love for our homeland.