JOEL MATTHEW FISCHER
JUNE 6, 1983 — JANUARY 8, 2021
AGE 37
Words adapted from Joel’s eulogy by Nathan Howard.
Joel Matthew Fischer had a simply marvelous spirit.
His approach to living and his way of relating to others around him was full of love, a general excitability, and a desire to be of help.
Joel’s zest for life, and the way he moved through it, caught the attention of pretty much everyone that met him.
Joel helped to create and build East Fork Cultivars over five years, starting in 2015. East Fork – as we are today – literally would not exist without his contributions.
When Aaron and Nathan Howard were trying to create a business centered around regenerative farming and breeding for cannabidiol, at a time when very few people had the acronym CBD in their vocabulary and cannabis wasn't in vogue – Joel believed in us.
From the start, Joel understood and championed our mission. He helped us define our values. And he put into practice and concrete actions our shared belief that people should always be put over profits.
Joel, whose official and legal business title was Ambassador of Happiness, helped shape our culture through leading workshops like StrengthsFinder. He recommended and shared books and readings on subjects ranging from cognitive distortions and systemic racism to the Human Potential Movement.
And when things got tough financially, which has occurred from time to time since day one at East Fork, Joel moved mountains to make our ends meet.
Joel was raised in Portland by his mother Terry Sue Fischer and his late father, Pastor John Mark Fischer. He was the middle son, with two brothers, Mike and Dave, and was often known to family and close friends as “Joelyocious” or “Ocious”.
And since 2018, Tricia Chin has known Joel as her husband – with the celebration of their marriage held on the East Fork Ranch. Longtime partners, Joel and Tricia’s adventurous spirits thrived in both traveling the world together and tending their garden at home in Southeast Portland. Throughout the years of her relationship with Joel, Tricia has been involved with supporting East Fork, and now carries on his legacy and vision as a Co-Owner of the company.
Those of us who loved him know Joel by many different titles that he held: son, brother, uncle, Taiwan friend, mentor, realtor, business partner, and in Oregon’s cannabis trade, the “Ambassador of Happiness”.
Because Joel loved doing things. He needed to do things. All the things! And he did them to the nth degree.
Many knew Joel from his time at Oregon State University in the early to mid 2000s, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and his pull toward public service began to emerge. This era marked the beginning of Joel’s increasing advocacy for people who had been wronged or marginalized.
After college, Joel continued to pursue public service as an electoral politics staffer, lobbyist, and volunteer. His work in the Oregon State Legislature often focused on issues related to the environment, education, and equity, and he was especially concerned with how our public systems deliver equitable results – or fail – to serve all members of a community. Joel’s motivations were grounded in ensuring equitable access to resources and opportunities for people historically underserved in our state and across the nation, and his policy efforts made concrete improvements in the lives of many.
Joel also served for many years on the Board Of Directors of Framework International, a nonprofit that builds and renovates public schools in Ghana. He and his friend Seth Prickett, who founded the organization, also owned and operated a cocoa farm in Ghana that is committed to improving the conditions of the cocoa farming trade.
Joel was also known for his interpersonal empathy and compassion, particularly in support of people dealing with grief and loss. East Fork Co-Founder Nathan Howard shares,
“Like so many others in the city and state where Joel worked and played, I knew him as a colleague, a mentor, a friend, and eventually counted him as a brother.
Joel and I were together at a business meeting, working to build what became East Fork Cultivars, when I got the call that my older brother Wesley had suddenly passed away.
Joel drove me to Wesley’s Home Forward apartment, hugged me, stayed with me and my family while saying goodbye to his body, and helped my family make all the post-death arrangements.
He shared essential wisdom he had gained after losing his father far too soon. Joel would continue to share this lived empathy in small ways with our family and with anyone dealing with grief.”
Put simply, Joel was a magical person. He lived with a passion that is legendary.
He also lived his values, embracing the belief that life is about making things fairer and more just – better not just for ourselves, but for everyone, including generations to come.
The impact he’s had is striking – on the people closest to him, us here at East Fork, folks across Oregon, and reaching across the world.
While Joel has passed on, he leaves those of us who grieve his passing with all the wonderful memories he gifted us – and all the good that he did.
Joel Matthew Fischer’s light and energy is woven into the blueprint of East Fork, and lives on through our work, always.