I regret to announce that Gaston Fischer passed away last Sunday. Gaston was co-director of the Neuchâtel Observatory and professor at the university, now retired since 1993. He published a number of papers on theoretical magnetotellurics from the early 1970's until his retirement. The obituary from his family is attached below, and I am sure the family would appreciate any reminiscences from those of you who knew him.

Pierre-André Schnegg

The Fischer family are sad to announce the passing of Gaston FISCHER on 23rd March 2014, aged 84 years. He will be sorely missed by his wife, Moyra Fischer by his children and grandchildren Elizabeth Fischer and Alain Richina, with Bérénice and Garance, in Geneva, Monica Fischer and Robert Redgwell, in Minneapolis, Catherine Fischer and Konrad Schleiss, with Oskar and Adrian, in Grenchen, Alain and Anne-Lise Fischer, with Chloé, Victoria, Liam and Owen, in Corcelles, and by his family in Switzerland, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom. The funeral service was held on Friday 28th March, in Neuchâtel.

Address of the family: Grand-Rue 16, CH-2035 Corcelles, Switzerland

Comments/reminiscences from Gaston's former students, colleagues and friends

Bruce Hobbs

Bruce and Celia Hobbs

Al Duba

The last time I saw Gaston was during the autumn of 2006. Lucy and I were visiting my son William who was on a post doc in medieval history at Département de Philosophie Université Miséricorde, Fribourg, Switzerland and the idea of a Sunday car trip to Neuchatel to visit Gaston came up. So, on 28 September, I drove Lucy, Bill, and Bill's fiancee (now wife) Trine to visit Gaston and Moyra in their apartment in Peseux, a small town near Neuchatel. After a couple of hours enjoying wine and hors d'oeuvres on Gaston and Moyra's balcony overlooking Lake Neuchatel, I invited the company to a late afternoon meal at a nice restaurant nearby that Gaston had recommended to us for dinner. During the long and interesting discussions with Gaston and Moyra that lovely day, one of the many things that we learned was that Gaston was spending considerable time in his retirement (he was about 76 at that time) as a volunteer helping the blind to learn to ski. This is just another example of Gaston giving so much of himself to others. He will be missed by all that he touched in his busy, productive life.

Photo of Gaston, Trine, and Bill in 2006, courtesy of Al Duba
Photo of Trine, Gaston and Moyra in 2006, courtesy of Al Duba
Photo of Al Duba, Trine, and Gaston in 2006, courtesy of Al Duba
View from the balcony of Gaston Fischer's apartment, courtesy of Al Duba

Jimmy Larsen

Hari

I still appreciate his enthusiasm to research on several topics...especially his deep research on MT phase...and its physical meaning...

It is this basic paper on which phase tensor concept has emerged at a later date...

We all miss him very much. I personally respect him as one of the great professors of this era.....

Please convey our sorrow and feelings to his family...which we never forget in our lives...

Ted Lilley

I remember meeting Gaston at the Ottawa Workshop of 1974. On the excursion, on a beautiful Canadian summer day, we were two of the enthusiasts who took the opportunity to go for a swim. The excursion included the Thousand Islands, and Upper Canada Village.

Twelve years later, Gaston hosted the Workshop at his home base at Neuchatel, and I remember clearly the wonderful welcome when registering, from his family. They worked as a team to hand out the conference material, and it was a most refreshing greeting for a traveller arriving from the other side of the world. The excursion of that Workshop, to Gaston's beloved Swiss mountains, was clouded in, but the enjoyment of all was by no means compromised, carried along as we were by Gaston's enthusiasm.

The next year, in 1987, the IUGG meeting was held at the University of British Columbia. Gaston and I were walking around exploring Vancouver when I took the accompanying photo of him, relaxed and smiling as he always was.

Over many years and meetings I remember discussing his 1D inversion programs with him, and the rotational properties of MT data, to mention just two of the problems to which he made major contributions. In addition, Gaston represented something most important about the foundations of our Working Group. It was that he came from and represented the world of magnetic observatories, with their procedures then (or not long before) of changing photographic paper charts once a day. Magnetic storms, substorms, "bays" and the daily variation were major signals inspected individually on charts, and there was a focus on what we would now call long-period induction. Such observatory traditions were the working environment of many of the pioneers of electromagnetic induction in the Earth. The passing of Gaston marks the loss of another of the distinguished pioneers of the subject. ??

Photo of Gaston Fischer from 1987, courtesy of Ted Lilley

John Weaver

As someone whose linguistic part of the brain is divided into just two compartments, English and Other Languages, I marvelled at how Gaston could switch effortlessly between French, English, German (Hochdeutsch) and Swiss German (Schwyzerdütsch) at a moment's notice. His fluency was such that sometimes he couldn't recall which language he had just spoken!

In retirement we were in frequent touch and he kept me well supplied with copies of his eclectic writings, ranging from cosmology and general relativity, to climate change and philosophy. He was a renaissance man whose intellectual interests were broad (he was also a solid state physicist before he switched to geophysics in mid-career) and whose love of the outdoors was manifested in his many sporting activities including skiing, cycling, mountain hiking, climbing and tennis.

The last time we saw Gaston was on a brief visit to Neuchâtel in August, 2009. We had dinner at La Maison du Prussien with the Fischers and Schneggs. Unfortunately the photograph I took on that occasion with an early iPhone is not of good quality but I include it here as our last memory of him. Shown are Moyra and Gaston with part of Andrée Schnegg in the foreground.

Last Christmas was the first time we didn't receive news from Gaston, an indication perhaps that his lust for life was on the wane. His cheerful personality, enthusiasm, inquiring mind, and friendly nature will be sorely missed by all those in the MT community who knew him. Our sympathy goes out to the whole Fischer family at this time of loss.

John Weaver
Victoria, BC

Photo of Gaston Fischer from 2009, courtesy of John Weaver

Bernd Eilrich

Gaston and I met each other once more in 2011. In 2013, we said good-bye to each other. Gaston felt that death was near.

From the articles that he had given me, let me cite two titles: 'Ballets dans le ciel, les résonnances gravitationnelles dans le système solaire', and the other: 'Sind wir allein im Universum?' A poem in relation to the latter is there too. It is in German. I do not know, when he wrote it, yet I would like to share it with you here:

SIND WIR ALLEIN ?
WAHRSCHEINLICH NICHT.
SIND WIR IM ZENTRUM ?
DAS SICHER NICHT.
IN EINEM SCHWARZEN LOCH ?
DAS WEISS ICH NICHT.
NUR EINES IST MIR GANZ GEWISS,
DIE ERDE IST EIN PARADIES,
ES ZU ERHALTEN, UNSERE PFLICHT;
OB WIR ES SCHAFFEN, IST UNGEWISS !
(Gaston Fischer)

I am very grateful, Gaston.