Harvey Fishero has lived in Plano since 1996, and at age 68, he continues to be involved in the Plano community. He serves as chairman for the Dallas Fort-Worth Hospital Council Education and Research Foundation and works on the Plano ISD Education Foundation Board. On Oct. 6, the Beaumont native was named the Plano Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year.

Fishero has a bachelor’s degree from Lamar University in biology and chemistry and a master’s degree from Trinity University in health care administration.

What got you started volunteering?
In Plano, it was really two people. One was Mary Jo Dean, who’s been honored as the Citizen of the Year in the past … She was [chairwoman] of my board at The Medical Center of Plano. Then I hired her on to my staff. She began to introduce me to opportunities [in Plano]. The other person, even earlier than Mary Jo, was Phil Wentworth. When [my wife and I] moved here in 1996, Phil was president of the chamber in Plano and he was also on the board at United Way in Collin County. And he reached out, invited me into both of those positions, and it was really through those two things that I got to know the small businesses in Plano. But the things that United Way supported were just incredible–the Boys & Girls Club [of Collin County], City House, [and] programs within Plano ISD. That’s kind
of how it happened.

In your eyes, why is it important to volunteer and be involved in the community?
No. 1 is to give back. That’s how Plano stays great. Yes, we’re thankful for Toyota, but Toyota’s coming in and they’re volunteering. We’re thankful for Capital One. We’re thankful for what TI does. We’re thankful for all the hospitals, but it’s bigger than that. You realize that life is bigger than the problems you have at work. People have problems a lot more serious than that … [Volunteering] gives you context of why things are the way they are in the community where you live. If you’re critical of the schools, come get involved in them. If you’re critical of the city, the city has a lot of opportunities to volunteer. Go volunteer.

Who inspires you?
Any servant leader because they’re humble. They’re responsible for the outcomes of whatever their organization does. They realize that the organizational structure’s really upside down and the one that’s most expendable is them …  You’ve [also] got to get out of your office and see where the business is really being done, and it’s not being done in your office.

What is something most people do not know about you?
I love baseball, and I’m trying to see a baseball game in every one of the major league baseball parks. I’m about two-thirds of the way through that process. I wanted to do it for history’s sake because I love the history of the game, but you really learn a lot about the city in which that baseball park is [located]. My wife goes with me and I’ve learned that the baseball game has become kind of the reason we go, but we’ve gotten to see a lot of the United States that way, too.

What is your greatest accomplishment?
Marrying my wife. [We got married] in 1974. I was in a master’s program at Trinity University. It was a two-year master’s program. You do one year in San Antonio in class and kind of learn the basics of health care administration. And then the second year is in a hospital … I got assigned to All Saints Hospital in Fort Worth, which is now Baylor Scott & White All Saints. I had been there for about 10 months. She was a summer nurses aide, [she] had just finished her freshman year at University of Texas. So I got approval to ask her out from my employer and if she had gone out with me the first time I asked her out, which she did not … If she’d gone out with me that first week, we would have been married a year to the date later. But she went out with me the next weekend.