Mayor

The form of government of the City is the Mayor-Council form of government. The Mayor is elected for a term of four (4) years.

Joel Fisch (2016 –

Joel Fisch was born at Sacred Heart Hospital in LeMars and raised in Remsen, graduating from St, Mary’s High School in 1966.  He then went on to attend Westmar College in LeMars, Iowa, from 1967-1971.  He married the former Jean Niggeling on June 12, 1971 and they resided in Remsen until that fall when they moved to Dallas, TX, where he attended Dallas Institute from which he graduated in 1972 with a degree in mortuary science.  They then returned to Remsen where he was employed with his parents, Joseph and Adele, at the Fisch Funeral Home.  They purchased the funeral home from Joel’s parents on January 1, 1976 and operated it until selling to their son, David, who is now the third generation of ownership, January 1, 2009.  Joel is now retired but does work part time for the funeral home.

Joel and Jean have three sons, Jeff and his wife, Kris, and their children, Aiden and Delaney who reside at Prior Lake, MN; Mike and his wife, Angie, and their children Miranda and Nathan; and David and his wife Elizabeth and their children Kyle, Jake and Brenden, who all live in Remsen.

Some of the areas in which he has been involved include:  member of St Mary’s Catholic Church and past member of its advisory board, serving as its secretary, past member of St. Mary’s Cemetary Board and managed the cemetery for 37 years from 1975 until 2012, and continues to do restoration work in both St. Mary’s and the Remsen Community cemeteries.  He helped with the planning and installation of Remsen’s veterans memorial in the cemeteries, and the moving of the old veterans memorial from the cemetery onto the town boulevard on main street.  He was a member of the Remsen Library Board for 37 years serving since 1978 and had been president of the board since 1996.  He is a past member of the Remsen Lions.  In 2014, he was recognized as Remsen’s Citizen of the year.  He is also proud of his service in helping with the flight of 232 airplane crash in Sioux City.

Currently he has memberships in the Catholic Order of Foresters, the Academy of Model Aeronautics, charter member of the R.C. Sky Hawks of Remsen, holding several positions in the club and presently secretary and treasurer, charter member of the Wings Flying Club or LeMars, charter member of Okoboji Harley Owners Group, serving as their treasurer.  In the past he helped put on the annual Remsen Demolition Derby  for many years.

Joel enjoys attending his grandchildren’s sporting events, restoring old card and motorcycles, motorcycle trips and building and flying radio controlled airplanes.