As a child, Elizabeth Fisher would recruit her younger siblings and other kids in the neighborhood to come to her "private school," which she held every day on the steps of her parents' home.

"She used to line up the kids and pretend to be their teacher," said her daughter, Karen Krenitsky, of Butler.

When Mrs. Fisher grew up, she followed her childhood dream of becoming a teacher and started a private kindergarten. She went on to teach for nearly three decades in the Butler Area School District.

Mrs. Fisher, formerly of Butler, died last Thursday from a brain tumor in Concordia Lutheran Ministries in the Cabot section of Winfield. She was 95.

When she started her own kindergarten program, kindergarten was not offered in the public schools.

"She did it because there was no public kindergarten then, and she saw a real need for it," her daughter said.

Mrs. Fisher taught at the kindergarten for several years before adding a staff member to help her. After nine years, kindergarten became a part of the public school system, and she became an elementary school teacher in the Butler Area School District.

She worked briefly at Meridian Elementary School, but spent the bulk of her career at Broad Street Elementary School. She retired in 1979 after 29 years of service.

Mrs. Fisher saved her entire salary to help pay for her children's college educations. She grew up in an era when some people didn't believe women should be educated, but she wanted more for her children.

"My mother was actually a career woman long before women's lib," her daughter said. "Her salary was set aside for the education of her children because education was very important to her and she wanted to make sure we got one."

She also was interested in art.

"She was a practicing artist," Ms. Krenitsky said. "She did mostly watercolor painting and then went on to weaving. Weaving became her passion and primary interest."

Mrs. Fisher exhibited her art every spring and sold many pieces. She was a member and past president of the Associated Artists of Butler County.

She also was a member of the American Association of University Women, which named her Woman of the Year in 1994.

She served on the Butler Symphony board and was a member of the Pennsylvania State Education Association and a former member of the Business and Professional Women's Association.

She also was a member of the Butler County Spinners and Weavers, Friends of the Butler Library and St. Peter Catholic Church in Butler.

Her daughter said she was a very good cook.

"She often said if she had not majored in elementary education, she would have gone into home economics," Ms. Krenitsky said. "She was an excellent cook, an excellent seamstress and could and did refinish furniture."

Mrs. Fisher's homemade Christmas cards were treasured by friends and family who received them each year.

A little-known fact about her was that she also was knowledgeable about the stock market, Ms. Krenitsky said.

"She was a pretty savvy investor," she said. "She would often tell us about some stock that was going to do well and tip us off to invest."

Mrs. Fisher loved to travel and had visited Europe and took a train trip across the Western states with her husband, Joseph Fisher.

In addition to her daughter, she is survived by another daughter, Amy Maxwell, of Lewisville, N.C.; five grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.

A memorial Mass was celebrated Monday at St. Peter Catholic Church. Burial was private.