Ody J. Fish (born Odilon), the industrialist whose pragmatic political views guided the Wisconsin Republican Party for over two decades in the mid-twentieth century, was born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, on June 16, 1925. Although he never attended college, he successfully worked his way up within the Pal-O-Pak Insulation Company of Hartland, Wisconsin, rising from foreman of its Wauwatosa plant at age 19 to majority stockholder by the late 1960s. Under his leadership, the firm, which was the nation's oldest and largest manufacturer of cellulose insulation, boasted 110 employees in plants in Hartland, Wisconsin, Underwood, Minnesota, and Whitby, Ontario.
From 1959 to 1963, Fish served as president of the National Cellulose Insulation Manufacturers Association. Other business activities included serving as president of the Woodland Manufacturing Company, and director of the State Bank of Hartland and of National Health Enterprises. In 1970, he was named to the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin.
Despite his successful business career, it is in conjunction with his activities in the Republican Party that Fish is best known. These activities began in 1958, when Fish was elected chair of the Lake Country Republican Club. In the following year, he was voted vice-chair of the Waukesha County Republican Party, and in 1960 he was elected chair, a position that he continued to hold until 1965. In 1964, Fish chaired the successful gubernatorial campaign of Warren P. Knowles. Knowles's election in the face of Republican losses elsewhere in the nation brought Fish to the forefront of the national party leadership. In 1965, he was elected state chair of the Wisconsin Republican Party. Together, Fish and Knowles guided the state party toward the pragmatic, moderate political philosophy that they shared. Fish's abilities in overcoming the diverse elements within the party is attested to by the fact that under his leadership (1965-1970), Republicans controlled both houses of the legislature, all five constitutional offices, and seven of the ten congressional seats. Throughout his term as state chair, Fish was a member of the National Republican Committee, and he served on its executive committee from 1968 to 1970. In this capacity, he also served on numerous other national and regional party committees, which are detailed in the biographical information included in Box 1, Folder 1 of the Original Collection (Part 1).
In 1971, Fish resigned as state chair and was elected Republican national committeeperson. As such, he was involved in the production and arrangements for three national conventions. In 1972, he served on the arrangements committee, and was chief sergeant-at-arms and director of security. In 1976, he was chair of the site selection committee. During his fourteen-year tenure on the national committee, Fish twice declined offers of the national chair from President Nixon. In 1984, Fish did not seek reelection to the national committee post.
Fish was married in 1967 to Mary Ellen Koebke, a former Milwaukee school teacher; the couple had two daughters.
Ody Fish died on February 6, 2007 in Pewaukee, Wisconsin.
