Maria Rita Fisher, better known as Esa, passed on Feb. 20, 2022, her 56th birthday, surrounded by family and loved ones after her courageous four-year-long battle with cancer.
Esa was born in Chicago, Ill. to Birute and Leonas Pabedinskas in 1966 and grew up within the loving and close-knit Lithuanian community, a heritage and foundation she was proud of. From her Chicago home, she ventured out to live in Utah to be close to friends before finding her life’s greatest adventure, JP Fisher, and making a home in Pemaquid. Together, they integrated their careers, families, love of music and life, and were happily inseparable until his death in 2017. Soon after JP passed, Esa received her cancer diagnosis and moved to Washington to find new adventures in her final years.
Esa loved to create art, explore nature, and was a talented photographer. She loved to take off on her motorcycle with friends, loving nothing more than to teach them the joys and freedom of riding. She lived her life with aplomb, which she perfected with purpose in her “last” battle. She saw beautiful in both the strange and the ordinary and inspired us all to do the same.
She is survived by her mother, Birute; brothers, Arunas, Vitas, and Andrius; daughters she shared with JP, Alia and Abigail; grandchildren, Lily, JJ, Noah, Lucy and Cora; chosen sisters, Ramona Skirpstunas, and Rugile Wathan; and incredible friends who will carry her memory closely.
Funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, June 17 at Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church in Newcastle with a celebration of life to follow. Donations to Child’s Gate to Learning, a charity close to Esa’s heart that serves children in need, are being accepted in lieu of flowers. More information can be found at eventcreate.com/e/esafisher.
