Children of an Aberdeen woman who received international attention for delivering the nation's first surviving quintuplets remember their mother as a tough and loving woman.
Mary Ann Darling Fischer died Sunday in Aberdeen, suffering from cancer and pneumonia.
Fischer gave birth to the quintuplets in 1963. They and their other six siblings initially received a lot of attention. But they say their mother stepped in and did her best to shield them from the national spotlight.
It was almost 50 years ago Andrew and Mary Ann Fischer went home with America's first surviving quintuplets. Several members of the media followed them.
Pictures capturing that moment and many other stages of their lives have an important figure behind each of them according to Fischer's kids.
"For almost two decades, Margie, Maggie, Jim, Annie and Cathy have grown up along with their six other brothers and sisters under the watchful eye of their mother Mary Ann," KELOLAND News reported on the quintuplets 18th birthday.
The Fischer children say they still remember their mother's watchful eye fondly.
When the family received international attention in the 1960s, the Fischer children said a member of a family with quintuplets in Canada contacted Mary Ann and warned her how the children could be affected. That's one reason, the children say, their mother worked hard to shield them.
When the Fischer family appeared on KELOLAND News in 1974, they were at a hospital open house, which was considered a rare public appearance.
Their mother made sure all eleven of her children were included in media coverage. She made it known that even though five were born at once, all 11 had a special place in her heart.
As the world will remember Mary Ann Fischer as the woman who birthed five surviving babies at once, her kids say they'll remember her simply as 'Mom' and a loving, hard-working one at that.
Most of the Fischer children still live in South Dakota. One of the quintuplets lives in North Dakota and another in Arizona.
Fischer's funeral will be on Thursday. She was 79 years old.
Watch stories about the Fischer family on the KELOLAND Video Archive Page. Go to the Vault section.
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