Harold "Hal" Fischer
Birth: 10 May 1919, San Francisco, CA
Death: 12 Nov 2004, Rohnert Park, Sonoma County, CA
Spouse: Marguerite Louise Skliris (aka Margia Dean)
Birth: 7 Apr 1922, Chicago, IL
Marriage: 19 Oct 1939, Las Vegas, Nevada
Divorce: Jun 1945
Spouse: Alice (Elsie) Kathleen Casper
Birth: 2 Mar 1923, New Brunswick, Middlesex, New Jersey
Death: 18 Apr 2000, Santa Rosa, California
Marriage: 6 Sep 1949, Reno, Nevada
Children: Wayne Mark (1952-) Juel Gertrude (1953-)
Andrea Lisa (1954-) Kim Laurie (1956-)
Juel and Charlie’s only son Harold was born 11:15 pm on May 10, 1919, at the family home on Chenery Street. Dr. E Ward Couper was in attendance. His birth certificate did not state a middle name, but both his high school and college diplomas show it as William, like his father. His cousin Dolores always called him “Sonny,” but, for most of his life, he went by Hal.
At 6’4 ½”, Hal was a tall gangly youth. He inherited his mother’s height and father’s playful temperament and was known for his pranks. In is obituary, his daughter Andrea said,
He was a prankster. When he was young, he put a tennis racket under his sister Alice's face while she slept, and she had to go to school with those red square marks on her face. He was always pulling pranks on us, too.
He spent his early life in Noe Valley at the house on 30th and Dolores and probably went to Fairmount Grammar School like his Aunt Gert. He was a Boy Scout and spent summers at Camp Royaneh in Cazadero with his friend Leon Blum. When he was eleven, the family moved to the Richmond District where he probably attended Presidio Middle School. Washington High would have been his local high school but it did not open until 1935. Hal attended the San Francisco High School of Commerce on Van Ness and Fell Streets. The Building, which was built in 1926, is an historical landmark.
Basketball was Hal’s lifetime passion, but he did not play for Commerce High. The yearbooks show him as a member of the Spirit Staff but not on the basketball team. In an interview years later, Hal said, “It was the Depression and my family needed me to work.” His basketball career began to take blossom at San Francisco City College in 1938, where he played center and was twice named All-State. He also played for the Olympic Club. Bob Rosen remembered that, during the summer, Hal worked as a usher for Billy Rose’s Aquacade at the 1939 World’s Fair. The show starred Olympians (and later movie stars) Eleanor Holm, Johnny Wiessmuller, Buster Crabbe, and Esther Williams. At CCSF, he studied acting and engineering and graduated with his Associate of Arts in 1939. At the time, City College held some of classes on the Galileo High School campus. There, Hal met a beautiful Greek girl named Marge Skliris.
Death: 12 Nov 2004, Rohnert Park, Sonoma County, CA
Spouse: Marguerite Louise Skliris (aka Margia Dean)
Birth: 7 Apr 1922, Chicago, IL
Marriage: 19 Oct 1939, Las Vegas, Nevada
Divorce: Jun 1945
Spouse: Alice (Elsie) Kathleen Casper
Birth: 2 Mar 1923, New Brunswick, Middlesex, New Jersey
Death: 18 Apr 2000, Santa Rosa, California
Marriage: 6 Sep 1949, Reno, Nevada
Children: Wayne Mark (1952-) Juel Gertrude (1953-)
Andrea Lisa (1954-) Kim Laurie (1956-)
Juel and Charlie’s only son Harold was born 11:15 pm on May 10, 1919, at the family home on Chenery Street. Dr. E Ward Couper was in attendance. His birth certificate did not state a middle name, but both his high school and college diplomas show it as William, like his father. His cousin Dolores always called him “Sonny,” but, for most of his life, he went by Hal.
At 6’4 ½”, Hal was a tall gangly youth. He inherited his mother’s height and father’s playful temperament and was known for his pranks. In is obituary, his daughter Andrea said,
He was a prankster. When he was young, he put a tennis racket under his sister Alice's face while she slept, and she had to go to school with those red square marks on her face. He was always pulling pranks on us, too.
He spent his early life in Noe Valley at the house on 30th and Dolores and probably went to Fairmount Grammar School like his Aunt Gert. He was a Boy Scout and spent summers at Camp Royaneh in Cazadero with his friend Leon Blum. When he was eleven, the family moved to the Richmond District where he probably attended Presidio Middle School. Washington High would have been his local high school but it did not open until 1935. Hal attended the San Francisco High School of Commerce on Van Ness and Fell Streets. The Building, which was built in 1926, is an historical landmark.
Basketball was Hal’s lifetime passion, but he did not play for Commerce High. The yearbooks show him as a member of the Spirit Staff but not on the basketball team. In an interview years later, Hal said, “It was the Depression and my family needed me to work.” His basketball career began to take blossom at San Francisco City College in 1938, where he played center and was twice named All-State. He also played for the Olympic Club. Bob Rosen remembered that, during the summer, Hal worked as a usher for Billy Rose’s Aquacade at the 1939 World’s Fair. The show starred Olympians (and later movie stars) Eleanor Holm, Johnny Wiessmuller, Buster Crabbe, and Esther Williams. At CCSF, he studied acting and engineering and graduated with his Associate of Arts in 1939. At the time, City College held some of classes on the Galileo High School campus. There, Hal met a beautiful Greek girl named Marge Skliris.
Marguerite Louise Skliris was born in Chicago on April 7, 1922. She was the youngest of the three daughters of Greek immigrants Evangelos George Skliris and Dionysia (Denyse) E Kyriasopoulos. George was an agent for a labor placement agency in New York, Chicago, and Salt Lake City before moving to San Francisco. Denyse was a fitter at a department store. George died in 1927 when Marge was only five.
Marge began acting at the age of seven. One of her early stage roles was as Becky Thatcher in Tom Sawyer. She attended Galileo High School and was active in the theatre. She was beautiful and talented. She won the Miss San Francisco and Miss California pageants in 1939 and was a runner up in the Miss America Pageant. She came in first in the talent competition with her dramatic reading of Shakespeare. She later would say that she should have sung, because she had a “torchy-kind of voice” and was later told that Miss America did not go around the country spouting Shakespeare. She had offers to stay in New York and start a career on Broadway, but her mother needed to work and could not chaperone her. Denyse was not going to leave her 17-year-old daughter alone in the Big City. Marge came home to San Francisco to finish school and married her high school sweetheart “Handsome Hal” Fischer.
The 1940 Census shows them both single and living with their parents, but Hal and Marge had eloped to Vegas and married on October 19, 1939. She later confessed to her mother and they had a beautiful wedding on Valentine’s Day 1940 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. Marge worked as a model for Elmo Creams, acted at the Geary and Curran Theatres, and took occasional trips to Hollywood in order to be discovered. Being tall and handsome himself, Hal was also approached by talent scouts to do screen tests, but he was not interested. Hal worked for his father at the SF News Service. The 1943 City Directory shows them married and living at 424 Funston. Hal was working for Bethlehem Steel as a shipfitter, with his cousins George Leonard and Ed McKinney.
Marge began acting at the age of seven. One of her early stage roles was as Becky Thatcher in Tom Sawyer. She attended Galileo High School and was active in the theatre. She was beautiful and talented. She won the Miss San Francisco and Miss California pageants in 1939 and was a runner up in the Miss America Pageant. She came in first in the talent competition with her dramatic reading of Shakespeare. She later would say that she should have sung, because she had a “torchy-kind of voice” and was later told that Miss America did not go around the country spouting Shakespeare. She had offers to stay in New York and start a career on Broadway, but her mother needed to work and could not chaperone her. Denyse was not going to leave her 17-year-old daughter alone in the Big City. Marge came home to San Francisco to finish school and married her high school sweetheart “Handsome Hal” Fischer.
The 1940 Census shows them both single and living with their parents, but Hal and Marge had eloped to Vegas and married on October 19, 1939. She later confessed to her mother and they had a beautiful wedding on Valentine’s Day 1940 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. Marge worked as a model for Elmo Creams, acted at the Geary and Curran Theatres, and took occasional trips to Hollywood in order to be discovered. Being tall and handsome himself, Hal was also approached by talent scouts to do screen tests, but he was not interested. Hal worked for his father at the SF News Service. The 1943 City Directory shows them married and living at 424 Funston. Hal was working for Bethlehem Steel as a shipfitter, with his cousins George Leonard and Ed McKinney.
In March of 1943, Hal enlisted into the Army Air Corps. After basic training in Amarillo, Texas, he was stationed Hammer Field in Fresno and was later transferred to Tonopah Airbase in Nevada where he joined the basketball team. His discharge papers list his specialty as “athletic instructor.” He became All-State and was named to the All-Star Rocky Mountain squad. He was described as a “fierce rebounder and excellent defender” and was nicknamed the “Tonopah Tosser.”
In 1944, Marge was signed by a talent scout for Republic pictures and moved to Hollywood where she was renamed Margia Dean and lived on N. Sierra Bonita. She appeared in a half dozen movies that year (usually uncredited) for RKO, Columbia, and Republic Pictures. She appeared with Gilbert Roland, Eve Arden, and Joe E Brown, among others. In October 1944, she visited Hal at Tonopah and they made the cover of the base newspaper, The Desert Bomber. In the article titled “Hollywood Starlet Visits TAAF,” it was stated that Hal’s specialty is basketball, last year winning All-State, but after the War he too plans to work in Hollywood, as a prop man.” That was not to be, though. Just like Margia was discovered by a scout for Republic Pictures, Hal was to be spotted by legendary coach Glen “Jake” Lawlor of the University of Nevada, Reno, who recruited him. Hal and Marge’s marriage was under strain from their differing career trajectories and from different life goals. Hal wanted to start a family and Margia wanted a career. They divorced in 1945, while he was still in the Army. As Margia wrote in 2016:
I have very fond memories of Hal. Hal was my first love and we were very happy together. It was very heartbreaking for both of us when we divorced. I knew Hal wanted me to be a stay-at-home wife and mother, but I was destined to be a career woman and knew it would not be fair to him to stay. I have always been grateful that Hal found happiness with his second wife and lovely family. Hal and I remained good friends. He even remembered to call my mother with 90th birthday congratulations.
After three more movies in that year, Margia’s career stalled, but took off again in 1947. Over her 20-year career, Margia would work with Cesar Romero, Vincent Price, Richard Chamberlain, Brian Keith, Brian Donlevy, Peter Falk, and Gene Kelly, to name a few. She would star in over 60 films and televisions shows, including the cult classics The Quatermass Xperiment and Moro Witch Doctor, TV episodes of Dick Tracy, and Villa!!, where she wrote and performed two songs. Bad luck (her agent died of a heart attack on the day of a meeting to sign her with MGM) thwarted her breaking out of B movie Western roles, though, and she retired from acting in 1964. Margia went on to become the vice-president of a major real estate firm, a Beverly Hills restaurateur, and a Brentwood dress shop owner. In 1965, she married architect and author Felipe Alvarez and they have been happily married for over 50 years. At 94, she is still married to Felipe and is living in Dana Point, California.
Hal never saw action in the War, but, after the fighting ended, he was sent to the Philippines to play basketball. It was part of the Army’s plan to export American culture around the world. Hal attained the rank of sergeant and received the Good Conduct Medal before being honorably discharged in March of 1946. After his discharge, Coach Lawlor offered Hal the opportunity to go back to college on the GI Bill, play basketball, and work part time to pay off his bills. Hal made All-Conference in the Rocky Mountain Division and the team beat the #1 ranked team in the country, St. John’s, in the Madison Square Gardens. UNR began a run of championships. In January of 1948, though, Nevada and Sacramento newspapers carried the disappointing news that Hal was quitting school for “family reasons.” In a 1997 interview for the UNR alumni magazine, Hal explained,
The government had declared a moratorium on all bills for servicemen during the War, so when I got out, I had all these bills with interest [to pay]. Jake got me a job working at Harrah’s. I’d “deal” craps from 2 am to 10 am, then I’d go to school until basketball practice at 2 pm. I dropped from 220 pounds to 190 pounds in five months. But what a five months!
He was wearing himself out and the part time pay was not really chipping away at his debt. After leaving UNR, Hal landed a job as business manager and player with the Oakland Bittners, one of the first integrated national basketball teams. His bills went away and he was instrumental in the team winning the 1949 Amateur Athletic Union national championship, beating the Phillips 66 Oilers in Oklahoma City. It would be the beginning of a long string of AAU coaching successes. The next year, he took over coaching the Oakland Blue & Gold (formerly the Bittners). In the summer of 1948, he even competed in the Olympic trials at New York's Madison Square Garden.
The most important result of his time at UNR, though, occurred at a dance. Hal saw a beautiful, smiling young woman and had his friend go over and ask her to dance with him. She said, “If he wants to dance with me, he has to ask me himself!” He did, and Alice Casper said yes.
In 1944, Marge was signed by a talent scout for Republic pictures and moved to Hollywood where she was renamed Margia Dean and lived on N. Sierra Bonita. She appeared in a half dozen movies that year (usually uncredited) for RKO, Columbia, and Republic Pictures. She appeared with Gilbert Roland, Eve Arden, and Joe E Brown, among others. In October 1944, she visited Hal at Tonopah and they made the cover of the base newspaper, The Desert Bomber. In the article titled “Hollywood Starlet Visits TAAF,” it was stated that Hal’s specialty is basketball, last year winning All-State, but after the War he too plans to work in Hollywood, as a prop man.” That was not to be, though. Just like Margia was discovered by a scout for Republic Pictures, Hal was to be spotted by legendary coach Glen “Jake” Lawlor of the University of Nevada, Reno, who recruited him. Hal and Marge’s marriage was under strain from their differing career trajectories and from different life goals. Hal wanted to start a family and Margia wanted a career. They divorced in 1945, while he was still in the Army. As Margia wrote in 2016:
I have very fond memories of Hal. Hal was my first love and we were very happy together. It was very heartbreaking for both of us when we divorced. I knew Hal wanted me to be a stay-at-home wife and mother, but I was destined to be a career woman and knew it would not be fair to him to stay. I have always been grateful that Hal found happiness with his second wife and lovely family. Hal and I remained good friends. He even remembered to call my mother with 90th birthday congratulations.
After three more movies in that year, Margia’s career stalled, but took off again in 1947. Over her 20-year career, Margia would work with Cesar Romero, Vincent Price, Richard Chamberlain, Brian Keith, Brian Donlevy, Peter Falk, and Gene Kelly, to name a few. She would star in over 60 films and televisions shows, including the cult classics The Quatermass Xperiment and Moro Witch Doctor, TV episodes of Dick Tracy, and Villa!!, where she wrote and performed two songs. Bad luck (her agent died of a heart attack on the day of a meeting to sign her with MGM) thwarted her breaking out of B movie Western roles, though, and she retired from acting in 1964. Margia went on to become the vice-president of a major real estate firm, a Beverly Hills restaurateur, and a Brentwood dress shop owner. In 1965, she married architect and author Felipe Alvarez and they have been happily married for over 50 years. At 94, she is still married to Felipe and is living in Dana Point, California.
Hal never saw action in the War, but, after the fighting ended, he was sent to the Philippines to play basketball. It was part of the Army’s plan to export American culture around the world. Hal attained the rank of sergeant and received the Good Conduct Medal before being honorably discharged in March of 1946. After his discharge, Coach Lawlor offered Hal the opportunity to go back to college on the GI Bill, play basketball, and work part time to pay off his bills. Hal made All-Conference in the Rocky Mountain Division and the team beat the #1 ranked team in the country, St. John’s, in the Madison Square Gardens. UNR began a run of championships. In January of 1948, though, Nevada and Sacramento newspapers carried the disappointing news that Hal was quitting school for “family reasons.” In a 1997 interview for the UNR alumni magazine, Hal explained,
The government had declared a moratorium on all bills for servicemen during the War, so when I got out, I had all these bills with interest [to pay]. Jake got me a job working at Harrah’s. I’d “deal” craps from 2 am to 10 am, then I’d go to school until basketball practice at 2 pm. I dropped from 220 pounds to 190 pounds in five months. But what a five months!
He was wearing himself out and the part time pay was not really chipping away at his debt. After leaving UNR, Hal landed a job as business manager and player with the Oakland Bittners, one of the first integrated national basketball teams. His bills went away and he was instrumental in the team winning the 1949 Amateur Athletic Union national championship, beating the Phillips 66 Oilers in Oklahoma City. It would be the beginning of a long string of AAU coaching successes. The next year, he took over coaching the Oakland Blue & Gold (formerly the Bittners). In the summer of 1948, he even competed in the Olympic trials at New York's Madison Square Garden.
The most important result of his time at UNR, though, occurred at a dance. Hal saw a beautiful, smiling young woman and had his friend go over and ask her to dance with him. She said, “If he wants to dance with me, he has to ask me himself!” He did, and Alice Casper said yes.
Alice Kathleen Casper was born on March 2, 1923, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, to Harry David Casper and Elizabeth (Betty) Garrick. Harry was a former navy man who worked as a machinist in an auto factory in 1930 and a roofer with his own business in 1940. On her birth certificate, Alice’s name was listed as Elsie, but she never went it. She was the oldest of four children, having two brothers and a sister. She graduated from New Brunswick High School in 1941, where she was a member of the National Honor Society. She attended Rutgers University for two years, and she had been married a man named Kolesar, though in what order that occurred is unclear. The marriage was short-lived. Like Margia, Alice did some modeling when she was younger and everyone said she had the most gorgeous legs.
In 1947, she left New Jersey and moved Nevada and attended the University of Nevada where she met Hal. Hal and Alice were married on the courthouse steps in Reno on September 6, 1949, by a Justice of the Peace. They honeymooned at the Feather River Inn, Portola. They returned to San Francisco and he continued coaching.
In 1947, she left New Jersey and moved Nevada and attended the University of Nevada where she met Hal. Hal and Alice were married on the courthouse steps in Reno on September 6, 1949, by a Justice of the Peace. They honeymooned at the Feather River Inn, Portola. They returned to San Francisco and he continued coaching.
They lived at 2447 Vallejo Street and 2326 - 18th Avenue before returning to 424 Funston, where they lived until 1956 in the lower flat with Juel and Charlie upstairs. To make ends meet, Hal took a variety of side jobs, including as at Triple A Television Service and owning/managing a bar called “The Cable Car.” Alice, who always had a job, worked as an accountant and office manager for a variety of car dealerships, including the Chevrolet on Geary Street. It is unknown if she worked at any of the dealerships with Lillian Conlan or Maude Daley or Rodney Silk.
Hal had major success on the court in 1951 when he coached the U.S. men's basketball team to a gold medal in the Pan Am Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. One of his favorite memories was being presented the trophy by Evita Peron. Said Hal,
Eva Peron presented me with a bouquet of flowers in Buenos Aires, even though we beat Argentina in the finals of the Pan American Games. She was a very vivacious woman, couldn’t stop talking. Everyone loved her. She was at every game, even though her husband wasn’t around.
He met other famous people as well. In the same 1997 article, Hal talked about Alexander Haig (“He was a sweetheart”) and the Shah of Iran (“I liked the Shah. I had dinner at his house several times.”). One gets the sense that the prankster Hal may have been having a little fun with the interviewer.
In April of that season, Hal was also in a bad auto accident outside if Reno on the way back from a game when his car collided with a truck. He had to be flown back to Oakland. This brush with mortality must have had an affect on his and Alice’s decision about starting a family. Nine months later, their first child and only son, Wayne, was born. The next year, they had a daughter whom they named Juel after Hal’s mother, then another daughter, Andrea, in 1954, and a final daughter, Kim, in 1956.
In 1955, the Blue & Gold franchise folded. Hal was ready, though. He took the civil servants test and applied for the athletic director’s job at the Presidio in San Francisco. He held the position for the next 21 years and attained a civilian rank equivalent to a lieutenant colonel. The only downside was that the Army made him sell the Cable Car Bar because they considered it a conflict of interest.
This new job provided enough financial stability that they were able to buy the nice three-bedroom house at 628 Manzanita Avenue in Corte Madera to accommodate their growing family. The kids would all attend Neil Cummins Elementary School, and Alice would get a job at Campbell Bishop Chevrolet in Corte Madera. Later, she would spend many years as the office manager at Survival Equipment & Engineering in Sausalito. This was a marine survival equipment company located in that huge Quonset hut building near the water off HWY 101. She was extremely outgoing and friendly and was very competent at her job. All her employers were very, very sorry to see her leave when the time came.
Both Alice and Hal always had a job, but the children never felt neglected. Their daughter Andrea said, “I still can’t imagine how my mom worked 5 days a week, cooked, cleaned, & got us all to school! She really was amazing!!” Alice also loved to fish and took the children fishing off the piers in Sausalito. They caught some very strange fish there, and some fishermen even gave them some baby tiger sharks, which they kept—but not for long! During the summers, Alice’s mother Bette, whom the children called Nudgemama (Hungarian for Grandma), would come to visit and help Alice out. Bette was remembered as “the cutest, spryest little old lady who always took us on major hikes, like all the way to Mill Valley & back.”
There were also many summer vacations— Disneyland, Hawaii, Lake Tahoe, Crater Lake, and many others. There was the memorable trips to Canada, where Hal drove a camper to Canada with the kids in the back of the pulling all sorts of shenanigans. It was remembered as an amazingly scenic vacation for which the kids were always grateful. They often went to Yosemite. And, of course, there was always Russian River. The family belonged to The Country Club Bowl & Swim Center in San Rafael. Alice was always and avid bowler and the kids loved the swimming pool. They all enjoyed it immensely and have very fond memories.
In 1958, Hal was appointed coach of the Army All-Stars, a combination of players from the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. Hal’s teams won 17 Armed Forces championships and seven AAU titles in the 1960s and 1970s. He also had international success in the ‘60s and ‘70s. In 1965, he coached a college all-star team in a series of games against Russia. They played in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and St. Louis and achieved victory in each city. He again coached college stars in the USA-Russia Series in 1973, touring the Soviet Union. He also coached U.S. teams in the fifth and sixth World Games held in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Ljubljana, Yugoslavia. His team included a seventeen-year-old named Bill Walton. When they beat Greece in the University of Thelssaloniki, the students rioted and smashed the windows on the bus. (America was supporting Turkey at the time in their conflict with Greece over the island of Crete.) Hal kept the team from reacting and they got out of there. When he won the championship (again), Hal received a telegram from then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger congratulating him and telling Hal he “respected his ability in not starting and international incident in Greece.”
Like many people who get into coaching after their playing days are over, Hal quickly discovered a much broader responsibility to his players. Many of these young men were on their own and away from home for the first time in their lives. Hal became a surrogate father of sorts. He taught them more than Xs and Os. He taught them how to dress and behave on the road, how to be responsible for themselves and to their teammates, and to develop their personal determination, stability, and grit. He also knew how important family was. He often would load them up on a bus and take them home to Corte Madera or even Santa Rosa for huge, home-cooked meals. He knew how important the family atmosphere was for them while stationed away from their own families. And he and Alice did not just do this for the players, but they did it for any enlisted man who was associated with them team, whether a star player or a team manager.
In the mid-1960s, Hal took a second job as a guard at the Juvenile Hall in San Rafael. He was hired because he was so big and because he had such great people management skills. That did not keep him from getting knifed once by an inmate. He said that he had to deck a few of them during his tenure there, unfortunately. That was not how he preferred to handle the children (or players) in his care, but sometimes he had to protect himself and he was always decisive when it came to doing what needed to be done.
The second job made it possible to move the family to Santa Rosa in August of 1966. Hal and Alice wanted more opportunities for the children, since Corte Madera was a pretty sleepy town back then, but San Francisco was getting too scary. According to Andrea, “He moved us to Santa Rosa to better our lives as there wasn’t as much to do for youths in Corte Madera, and Dad wanted to keep us from the wrong crowds and from getting into trouble.” Santa Rosa had a nice small-town-America feel and yet was big enough to have a junior college and was near to Sonoma State College. They bought a small, three-bedroom rancher at 1250 Los Olivos Road and immediately added on another whole wing with 2 more bedrooms, a bathroom (so each child had their own room) and a huge entryway. There were a few acres where they could keep horses and chickens. There was even a pool. The kids were in heaven.
Wayne, Juel, and Andrea started school at Rincon Valley Junior High School, while Kim started at Madrone Elementary. They all graduated from Montgomery High School. Wayne was into sports, fixing cars, and building models. The girls belonged to the Sonoma County Centaurs (a horse club) and 4-H Clubs. They showed their horses, rode in parades, and pretty much rode their horses every minute they could.
Hal was a Mason like his father and became a member of the Lebanon-Pacific Masonic Lodge. Alice continued to work as an office manager, first at G.K. Hardt Motors (the American Motors car dealership on Santa Rosa Avenue) and then at Mitchell Trailer Sales on the Old Redwood Highway. She still had time for her hobbies, which included stained glass work, crossword puzzles, reading, and needlework. There was little idle time for Alice or Hal.
The commute to the City was tough and he sometimes spent the night (or two) in the Presidio. In 1967, he stopped working at the Juvenile Hall so he could concentrate on the upcoming Pan Am Games. Hal coached the U.S. men's basketball team to another gold medal in the Pan Am Games in Winnepeg, Manatoba. He holds the distinction of being the only person to have done so twice. According to his son, “It was estimated that my dad coached nearly 3,000 basketball victories during his career.” About this time, Hal also became the West Coast Scout for the New York Knicks. Sometimes he would take Andrea on scouting trips to Portland, LA, or San Diego. She really enjoyed this one-on-one time with her dad.
In 1971, Hal was elected to the Helms Basketball Hall of Fame for his coaching. The headline of an article in the Illinois State Journal the next year stated that “Fischer Unknown Except to Basketball Experts.” Or, as the writer of the 1997 article said,
With an enviable international record in military and amateur circles, Fischer is the most famous basketball coach this country has never heard of.”
In the Bay Area, he was known as the go-to coach for high school and college coaches to learn how new methods and strategies. Many of his former players went into the profession and would come back to him for mentoring. He was also a regional scout for the New York Knicks. He was known for “a swashbuckling, fast-break style” that would later become popular in the NBA and for being something of a taskmaster. Because his players came to him with only a short time to coordinate into a team, he had to practice them three times a day, at 9:00 in the morning, 1 inn the afternoon and again at 7 at night. During practice he emphasized quick, cat-like movements, precision footwork, and energy expenditure in short bursts. The total of over 8 hours a day did not include taping and whirlpool time.
Hal had major success on the court in 1951 when he coached the U.S. men's basketball team to a gold medal in the Pan Am Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. One of his favorite memories was being presented the trophy by Evita Peron. Said Hal,
Eva Peron presented me with a bouquet of flowers in Buenos Aires, even though we beat Argentina in the finals of the Pan American Games. She was a very vivacious woman, couldn’t stop talking. Everyone loved her. She was at every game, even though her husband wasn’t around.
He met other famous people as well. In the same 1997 article, Hal talked about Alexander Haig (“He was a sweetheart”) and the Shah of Iran (“I liked the Shah. I had dinner at his house several times.”). One gets the sense that the prankster Hal may have been having a little fun with the interviewer.
In April of that season, Hal was also in a bad auto accident outside if Reno on the way back from a game when his car collided with a truck. He had to be flown back to Oakland. This brush with mortality must have had an affect on his and Alice’s decision about starting a family. Nine months later, their first child and only son, Wayne, was born. The next year, they had a daughter whom they named Juel after Hal’s mother, then another daughter, Andrea, in 1954, and a final daughter, Kim, in 1956.
In 1955, the Blue & Gold franchise folded. Hal was ready, though. He took the civil servants test and applied for the athletic director’s job at the Presidio in San Francisco. He held the position for the next 21 years and attained a civilian rank equivalent to a lieutenant colonel. The only downside was that the Army made him sell the Cable Car Bar because they considered it a conflict of interest.
This new job provided enough financial stability that they were able to buy the nice three-bedroom house at 628 Manzanita Avenue in Corte Madera to accommodate their growing family. The kids would all attend Neil Cummins Elementary School, and Alice would get a job at Campbell Bishop Chevrolet in Corte Madera. Later, she would spend many years as the office manager at Survival Equipment & Engineering in Sausalito. This was a marine survival equipment company located in that huge Quonset hut building near the water off HWY 101. She was extremely outgoing and friendly and was very competent at her job. All her employers were very, very sorry to see her leave when the time came.
Both Alice and Hal always had a job, but the children never felt neglected. Their daughter Andrea said, “I still can’t imagine how my mom worked 5 days a week, cooked, cleaned, & got us all to school! She really was amazing!!” Alice also loved to fish and took the children fishing off the piers in Sausalito. They caught some very strange fish there, and some fishermen even gave them some baby tiger sharks, which they kept—but not for long! During the summers, Alice’s mother Bette, whom the children called Nudgemama (Hungarian for Grandma), would come to visit and help Alice out. Bette was remembered as “the cutest, spryest little old lady who always took us on major hikes, like all the way to Mill Valley & back.”
There were also many summer vacations— Disneyland, Hawaii, Lake Tahoe, Crater Lake, and many others. There was the memorable trips to Canada, where Hal drove a camper to Canada with the kids in the back of the pulling all sorts of shenanigans. It was remembered as an amazingly scenic vacation for which the kids were always grateful. They often went to Yosemite. And, of course, there was always Russian River. The family belonged to The Country Club Bowl & Swim Center in San Rafael. Alice was always and avid bowler and the kids loved the swimming pool. They all enjoyed it immensely and have very fond memories.
In 1958, Hal was appointed coach of the Army All-Stars, a combination of players from the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. Hal’s teams won 17 Armed Forces championships and seven AAU titles in the 1960s and 1970s. He also had international success in the ‘60s and ‘70s. In 1965, he coached a college all-star team in a series of games against Russia. They played in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and St. Louis and achieved victory in each city. He again coached college stars in the USA-Russia Series in 1973, touring the Soviet Union. He also coached U.S. teams in the fifth and sixth World Games held in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Ljubljana, Yugoslavia. His team included a seventeen-year-old named Bill Walton. When they beat Greece in the University of Thelssaloniki, the students rioted and smashed the windows on the bus. (America was supporting Turkey at the time in their conflict with Greece over the island of Crete.) Hal kept the team from reacting and they got out of there. When he won the championship (again), Hal received a telegram from then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger congratulating him and telling Hal he “respected his ability in not starting and international incident in Greece.”
Like many people who get into coaching after their playing days are over, Hal quickly discovered a much broader responsibility to his players. Many of these young men were on their own and away from home for the first time in their lives. Hal became a surrogate father of sorts. He taught them more than Xs and Os. He taught them how to dress and behave on the road, how to be responsible for themselves and to their teammates, and to develop their personal determination, stability, and grit. He also knew how important family was. He often would load them up on a bus and take them home to Corte Madera or even Santa Rosa for huge, home-cooked meals. He knew how important the family atmosphere was for them while stationed away from their own families. And he and Alice did not just do this for the players, but they did it for any enlisted man who was associated with them team, whether a star player or a team manager.
In the mid-1960s, Hal took a second job as a guard at the Juvenile Hall in San Rafael. He was hired because he was so big and because he had such great people management skills. That did not keep him from getting knifed once by an inmate. He said that he had to deck a few of them during his tenure there, unfortunately. That was not how he preferred to handle the children (or players) in his care, but sometimes he had to protect himself and he was always decisive when it came to doing what needed to be done.
The second job made it possible to move the family to Santa Rosa in August of 1966. Hal and Alice wanted more opportunities for the children, since Corte Madera was a pretty sleepy town back then, but San Francisco was getting too scary. According to Andrea, “He moved us to Santa Rosa to better our lives as there wasn’t as much to do for youths in Corte Madera, and Dad wanted to keep us from the wrong crowds and from getting into trouble.” Santa Rosa had a nice small-town-America feel and yet was big enough to have a junior college and was near to Sonoma State College. They bought a small, three-bedroom rancher at 1250 Los Olivos Road and immediately added on another whole wing with 2 more bedrooms, a bathroom (so each child had their own room) and a huge entryway. There were a few acres where they could keep horses and chickens. There was even a pool. The kids were in heaven.
Wayne, Juel, and Andrea started school at Rincon Valley Junior High School, while Kim started at Madrone Elementary. They all graduated from Montgomery High School. Wayne was into sports, fixing cars, and building models. The girls belonged to the Sonoma County Centaurs (a horse club) and 4-H Clubs. They showed their horses, rode in parades, and pretty much rode their horses every minute they could.
Hal was a Mason like his father and became a member of the Lebanon-Pacific Masonic Lodge. Alice continued to work as an office manager, first at G.K. Hardt Motors (the American Motors car dealership on Santa Rosa Avenue) and then at Mitchell Trailer Sales on the Old Redwood Highway. She still had time for her hobbies, which included stained glass work, crossword puzzles, reading, and needlework. There was little idle time for Alice or Hal.
The commute to the City was tough and he sometimes spent the night (or two) in the Presidio. In 1967, he stopped working at the Juvenile Hall so he could concentrate on the upcoming Pan Am Games. Hal coached the U.S. men's basketball team to another gold medal in the Pan Am Games in Winnepeg, Manatoba. He holds the distinction of being the only person to have done so twice. According to his son, “It was estimated that my dad coached nearly 3,000 basketball victories during his career.” About this time, Hal also became the West Coast Scout for the New York Knicks. Sometimes he would take Andrea on scouting trips to Portland, LA, or San Diego. She really enjoyed this one-on-one time with her dad.
In 1971, Hal was elected to the Helms Basketball Hall of Fame for his coaching. The headline of an article in the Illinois State Journal the next year stated that “Fischer Unknown Except to Basketball Experts.” Or, as the writer of the 1997 article said,
With an enviable international record in military and amateur circles, Fischer is the most famous basketball coach this country has never heard of.”
In the Bay Area, he was known as the go-to coach for high school and college coaches to learn how new methods and strategies. Many of his former players went into the profession and would come back to him for mentoring. He was also a regional scout for the New York Knicks. He was known for “a swashbuckling, fast-break style” that would later become popular in the NBA and for being something of a taskmaster. Because his players came to him with only a short time to coordinate into a team, he had to practice them three times a day, at 9:00 in the morning, 1 inn the afternoon and again at 7 at night. During practice he emphasized quick, cat-like movements, precision footwork, and energy expenditure in short bursts. The total of over 8 hours a day did not include taping and whirlpool time.
In 1977, Alice retired and she and Hal moved back to the City, buying the three-unit place at 341 Corbett Avenue, in Eureka Valley/Upper Market. In 1978, Hal became a grandfather for the first time, with the birth of Wayne’s first son, Casey. There would be eight more grandchildren over the next ten years. Hal and Alice were very loving and kind grandparents. The children referred to Alice as Grandma HaHa because she was always laughing.
In 1979, Hal was inducted into the University of Nevada Hall of Fame as a player, though he claimed it was really more because of his coaching. That same year, he finally got the chance to coach in the pros. He became an assistant coach to longtime New York Knicks coach Red Holzman. Hal was an assistant for three seasons and had a record of 122 wins and 124 losses. Their best season was 1980-81 when the Knicks went 50-32 and came in third in the Atlantic Division. During his first year with the Knicks, Alice stayed in California because they did not know if the job would work out. For the second season, Alice moved to New York City, and they lived at 200 East 33rd Street.
In November of 1980, Alice and Mrs. Selma Holzman were interviewed in the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. After giving their opinions about the Knicks’ talent and chances, they were asked about the long years as coaches’ wives and about moving to NYC. Alice said,
Even when the kids were little, Hal went all over the world. It’s nice when they come home…even nicer when the come home winners. I love New York. I’ve met great people. I feel like I belong. I go for walks, explore shops, and spend Hal’s money.
At the end of the 1981-82 season, Holzman retired and was replaced by Hubert “Hubie” Brown. Brown hired a new staff and Hal returned to his position as the West Coast Scout for several more years. Now in his sixties, Hal decided to enjoy life. In the 1980s and 90s, he managed the properties he owned in San Francisco, Marin, and Sonoma Counties which he had acquired over the years. He and Alice were also incredibly generous with their time and money. They knew they were blessed and felt responsible for giving back. They always gave to charities, especially Shriners’ Hospital, the SPCA, and Humane Society, and they volunteered regularly at the YMCA in SF, while they were able to.
Early on, Hal learned that basketball could open the world to him. The Army took him all over the States and the Far East. The AAU took him all over Europe and the Middle East. He often took Alice with him, and she was infected by the travel bug, too. She loved to travel and, after Hal retired, they often did so. In 1984, it was Maui and, then, Italy. In 1985, it was all over Paris and Eastern Europe with their friends the Gascons. In 1986, they went to Korea, Germany, and Belgium. Brussels and Paris were two of Alice’s favorite destinations. Juel has very fond memories of meeting them in various places and enjoying their company in new locales. She wrote,
In 1984, I met my parents in Italy and we travelled throughout the country ending up in Paris. One of our favorite places on the trip was Sorrento and the Ristorante de Garden. This fabulous restaurant includes multiple levels, an atrium, and gardens. Every time I have been back to Sorrento with my family, we have had dinner there. The last time being September 2016 and the place is still the same. Hard to believe after all these years. We always toast Mom and Dad.
In 1991, Hal even became a winner of a SouthWest Airlines contest that gave him free travel for life. By then, though, they were slowing down and could not get the full enjoyment from the prize.
They purchased property at 252-254 Clinton Park, in San Francisco, where they had planned to move into the 3-story, upper penthouse, but that never came to fruition. During the mid-1990s, Alice had a pacemaker put in. She had some other health issues that were never addressed, though they suspected lung cancer. In March of 2003, they moved to Santa Rosa, where they could spend time with their children and grandchildren. Fairly quickly, though, Alice began to have stomach pains. She was rushed to the emergency room at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Her medical records had not be forwarded yet and, because she was small and thin but they did not know she had always been so, they decided that she needed to be "rapidly rehydrated," which started all sorts of problems by placing undue stress on all her organs. Her organs began to fail, and it was decided that there was nothing more could be done. Alice died on April 18, 2000. She was 77 years old.
After private services her held at Daniels Chapel of the Roses Funeral Home. There followed a small, but slightly more public memorial service at Hal’s apartment in Rohnert Park. Much of the family was there to honor her memory, including some of the Schneiders and Hal’s cousin Dolores whom he had not seen in over 50 years. Afterward, the immediate family took a boat out beyond the Golden Gate and scattered her ashes. They took down the coordinates so Hal could be scattered in the same place when the time came.
The next four and a half years were the most time Hal and Alice had been apart in over a half-century. Hal had a series of mini-strokes and became paralyzed. He died of heart failure on November 12, 2004. He was 85. Typical of Hal, his obituary requested donations to the Santa Rosa Boys & Girls Club.
In 1979, Hal was inducted into the University of Nevada Hall of Fame as a player, though he claimed it was really more because of his coaching. That same year, he finally got the chance to coach in the pros. He became an assistant coach to longtime New York Knicks coach Red Holzman. Hal was an assistant for three seasons and had a record of 122 wins and 124 losses. Their best season was 1980-81 when the Knicks went 50-32 and came in third in the Atlantic Division. During his first year with the Knicks, Alice stayed in California because they did not know if the job would work out. For the second season, Alice moved to New York City, and they lived at 200 East 33rd Street.
In November of 1980, Alice and Mrs. Selma Holzman were interviewed in the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. After giving their opinions about the Knicks’ talent and chances, they were asked about the long years as coaches’ wives and about moving to NYC. Alice said,
Even when the kids were little, Hal went all over the world. It’s nice when they come home…even nicer when the come home winners. I love New York. I’ve met great people. I feel like I belong. I go for walks, explore shops, and spend Hal’s money.
At the end of the 1981-82 season, Holzman retired and was replaced by Hubert “Hubie” Brown. Brown hired a new staff and Hal returned to his position as the West Coast Scout for several more years. Now in his sixties, Hal decided to enjoy life. In the 1980s and 90s, he managed the properties he owned in San Francisco, Marin, and Sonoma Counties which he had acquired over the years. He and Alice were also incredibly generous with their time and money. They knew they were blessed and felt responsible for giving back. They always gave to charities, especially Shriners’ Hospital, the SPCA, and Humane Society, and they volunteered regularly at the YMCA in SF, while they were able to.
Early on, Hal learned that basketball could open the world to him. The Army took him all over the States and the Far East. The AAU took him all over Europe and the Middle East. He often took Alice with him, and she was infected by the travel bug, too. She loved to travel and, after Hal retired, they often did so. In 1984, it was Maui and, then, Italy. In 1985, it was all over Paris and Eastern Europe with their friends the Gascons. In 1986, they went to Korea, Germany, and Belgium. Brussels and Paris were two of Alice’s favorite destinations. Juel has very fond memories of meeting them in various places and enjoying their company in new locales. She wrote,
In 1984, I met my parents in Italy and we travelled throughout the country ending up in Paris. One of our favorite places on the trip was Sorrento and the Ristorante de Garden. This fabulous restaurant includes multiple levels, an atrium, and gardens. Every time I have been back to Sorrento with my family, we have had dinner there. The last time being September 2016 and the place is still the same. Hard to believe after all these years. We always toast Mom and Dad.
In 1991, Hal even became a winner of a SouthWest Airlines contest that gave him free travel for life. By then, though, they were slowing down and could not get the full enjoyment from the prize.
They purchased property at 252-254 Clinton Park, in San Francisco, where they had planned to move into the 3-story, upper penthouse, but that never came to fruition. During the mid-1990s, Alice had a pacemaker put in. She had some other health issues that were never addressed, though they suspected lung cancer. In March of 2003, they moved to Santa Rosa, where they could spend time with their children and grandchildren. Fairly quickly, though, Alice began to have stomach pains. She was rushed to the emergency room at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Her medical records had not be forwarded yet and, because she was small and thin but they did not know she had always been so, they decided that she needed to be "rapidly rehydrated," which started all sorts of problems by placing undue stress on all her organs. Her organs began to fail, and it was decided that there was nothing more could be done. Alice died on April 18, 2000. She was 77 years old.
After private services her held at Daniels Chapel of the Roses Funeral Home. There followed a small, but slightly more public memorial service at Hal’s apartment in Rohnert Park. Much of the family was there to honor her memory, including some of the Schneiders and Hal’s cousin Dolores whom he had not seen in over 50 years. Afterward, the immediate family took a boat out beyond the Golden Gate and scattered her ashes. They took down the coordinates so Hal could be scattered in the same place when the time came.
The next four and a half years were the most time Hal and Alice had been apart in over a half-century. Hal had a series of mini-strokes and became paralyzed. He died of heart failure on November 12, 2004. He was 85. Typical of Hal, his obituary requested donations to the Santa Rosa Boys & Girls Club.
Hal was arguably the most successful descendant of the Silk clan. He had a beauty queen and rising starlet for a wife. His amicable divorce was followed by a marriage to his soul mate, who had the same hopes and life goals that he had and to whom he would refer as “the love of his life.” He found national and international renown both on and off the basketball court. He had many public acknowledgments of his abilities, but, more importantly, he had an even stronger impact on people privately. When Hal passed away, his children received many letters of condolence from former players and colleagues who expressed how much Hal had meant to them personally, how he had helped mold them into the individuals they had become, and how they would miss him. He had financial success that allowed him to see the world and that allowed him to raise his family in security. He had four children and nine grandchildren with whom he was rightly proud. Hal cast a long and loving shadow over the people he met, and he is sorely missed by all.