Harley Fisk, Practitioner and Activist for More than 50 Years, Dies at 81

Harley Fisk, AIA, died on July 7. He was 81 years old.

A native of Latonia, Ky., Fisk earned a degree in architecture from the University of Cincinnati in 1948 and practiced for more than half a century. A longtime senior partner in the architecture and engineering firm of Fisk, Rinehart, Keltch & Meyer, he remained in private practice until his death. Active in the AIA, Fisk served as a regional director on the AIA Board of Directors, and as president of the Kentucky Society of Architects. He also was president of the Kentucky Board of Examiners and Registration of Architects.

Fisk served the Florence Christian Church for more than 40 years. He served as chair of the Board of the Christian Churches of Kentucky, as a board member of the Christian Church of the U.S. and Canada, and as a board member of the Brotherhood Finance Committee of the Christian Church of the U.S. and Canada. He was a member and the first president of the Kentucky Interfaith Commission.

A keen believer in community service from an early age, Fisk became an Eagle Scout as a youth and received the Silver Beaver Award for lifelong service to the Boy Scouts. Cincinnati named him one of 200 distinguished Cincinnatians during the city's bicentennial. He was a member of Toastmasters International, the Chamber of Commerce of Northern Kentucky, and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity.

During World War II, Fisk served in the second tank battalion of the second Marine Division, U.S. Marine Corps, in the Pacific Theater. He is survived by a son and a daughter.

Larry Melillo, AIA Disaster Response Expert and Author, Dies at 70

Larry Melillo, FAIA, died of a malignant brain tumor July 3. He was 70.

In a notice of Melillo's death, AIA Kentucky Executive Director Janet Pike, Hon. AIA, said the Louisville architect was well known and loved among his colleagues in Kentucky and by others throughout the country with whom he worked as a leader of the AIA Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team (R/UDAT) program. Melillo cochaired the AIA's Disaster Assistance Program and coauthored the AIA Disaster Assistance Handbook. He also helped local AIA chapters establish their own disaster assistance programs. AIA Kentucky recognized Melillo with its highest honor, the C. Julian Oberwarth Award, last October. Melillo became a fellow of the Institute in 1991.

An appreciation in the Louisville Courier-Journal noted that Melillo, an Albany, N.Y., native, designed and oversaw renovations on numerous downtown and riverfront buildings and at least 100 churches, according to his family. He was especially passionate about the city's waterfront, his daughter told the Courier-Journal.

Melillo is survived by his wife, three daughters, and several grandchildren.

Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.