Daisy Fisher Branan

Daisy Fisher Branan devoted her adult life to helping others.

She worked for social justice, peace and an end to violence. She helped disabled children, and tried to ease the suffering of those afflicted with the AIDS virus.

Ms. Branan, a home health care worker, died Thursday at Saint Francis Hospital after a heart attack. She was 58.

"She was delightful," said her older brother, John T. Fisher of Memphis. "She was a free spirit who always had a gay smile, and she put out lots of warmth."

Ms. Branan was the youngest of five children born to William Hunt [Fisher] and Daisy Tucker Fisher of Memphis. She attended Hutchison School and graduated from Central High School. She also attended Ms. Helen Norfleet's School in New York City and the University of Memphis. Ms. Branan also participated in the Memphis Cotton Carnival.

As a member of Les Passees, Ms. Branan worked with children with developmental disabilities. She also was a member of Junior League of Memphis, where she and Frances Hooks, wife of civil rights leader Benjamin Hooks, helped minority students find college scholarships.

Ms. Branan was involved in various peace movement projects and was a student of Tibetan Buddhist programs for spiritual development and world peace. In recent years, she had been involved in hospice care for people with AIDS in Memphis and Colorado.

Services will be at 2 p.m. today at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, with burial in Forest Hill Cemetery Midtown. Canale Funeral Directors has charge.

Besides her brother, she leaves a daughter, Tucker Branan Schunk of Williamsville, N.Y.; a son, Homer Boyd Branan IV of Memphis; a sister, Billie Fisher Carr Houghton of Pawleys Island, S.C.; a brother, Thomas Scott Fisher of Memphis, and a grandson.

The family asks that memorials be sent to the Boulder County AIDS Project at 2118 Fourteenth St., Boulder, Colo. 80302 or VDay Memphis, P.O. Box 41963, Memphis 38174.

"The kingdom of God is within you.",( Luke 17 , Verse 21) was Daisy's favorite Bible quote.

About a week after Daisy passed away, Linda Merritt had a dream about Vella and some earrings. This was odd enought that she told us about it one morning. That afternoon I noticed two jade elephant shaped earrings sitting on a table top in Vella's room. There was a note on a small piece of paper under the earrings saying; "To Linda from Daisy."

We later learned that Brenda Sharp had placed them there, and they used to belong to Daisy.

2-26-2003 Eldon:

Boyd came by to visit Vella and give us some things of ours that were at Daisy's house.

One item was a book called "Emotional Intelligence" that I had loaned her.

Inside I found some newspaper clippings from a letter to the editor written by Alanson B. Houghton, her brother in law, (I think) .

The article is called 'Cool it on Iraq' . ( Rev. Houghton is a retired minister, and a former Marine. )

Daisy had given me a newspaper clipping of an interview with him about one of his books.

I still have it, but I checked Google to see if the letter to the editor was on a newspaper web page.

I got this by co-incidence:

After-Death Communication : Final Farewells ~ 
 Louis E. Lagrand / Paperback / Published 1997 

Be Not Afraid : Words of Hope and Promise Alanson B. Houghton 
 / Paperback / Published 1988 

I feel that Google is a good as the I Ching!