DOWAGIAC — A victim of a Santa Barbara diving boat fire used to call Dowagiac home.

Lisa Fiedler, a 52-year old from Mill Valley, California, was one of 34 people who were trapped abroad the Conception, a boat operated by Truth Aquatics out of Santa Barbara. The ship caught fire before dawn  Monday morning and sank in southern California’s Channel Islands.

Fiedler grew up in Dowagiac. Although she moved away in adulthood, she made an impact on the residents and her classmates in the community. In 1985, she was crowned Miss Dowagiac in the annual scholarship pageant.

“She was fearless,” said Becky Grajauskis, a friend of Fiedler’s, who grew up with her in Dowagiac. “Adventurous, always smiling and always laughing. Her smile and her sparkle is one thing I will never forget.”

Fiedler did not stay in Dowagiac and ended up moving to North Carolina, where she co-owned Salon Botanical, said the current owner, Laura Fredrickson.

The salon had no turnover since Fiedler’s ownership, and many of the hairstylists fondly remembered Fiedler in a Facebook post. Salon Botanical wrote they had missed her since she moved to California in 2005.

In California, Grajauskis said Fiedler’s adventurous attitude continued to live on.

“She was an avid diver and was actually going on for further certification, to do something with diving and CPR rescue,” Grajauskis said.

Grajauskis said Fiedler was not supposed to be onboard the Conception, but had gotten asked to tagalong and help since there were many first-time divers.

In addition to her love of diving, Grajauskis said Fiedler was a talented photographer and hairdresser.

“There is so much more of her than besides just growing up in Dowagiac,” Grajauskis said. “Her adulthood made such an impact on people.”

Art was something Fiedler always had an eye for, said Teddi Kella, another one of Fiedler’s friends in Dowagiac. Kella was on the Miss Dowagiac court with Fiedler, and the two spent time together carrying out court tasks.

“She was genuine and just was herself,” Kella said. “She was just kindhearted. Everyone just knew how adventurous she was. All of us looked forward to her posts, where is she going next?”

Fiedler was an animal lover, and her pets were her world, both friends said. She could often be found taking photos with her dog on her adventures.

Kella said Fiedler also had a goofy side to her personality, as she remembered when herself, Fiedler and Grajauskis took a trip to Western Michigan University their senior year and listened to Prince’s “Purple Rain” over and over again.
“She was that type of person that people wanted to be around,” Kella said. “She had a good personality, and that carried all the way through adulthood.”
For Kella and other friends, that might be what makes Fiedler’s death so hard to process.

“Somebody who had so much life is gone,” Kella said. “I think everybody is in disbelief.”

Grajauskis said as Fiedler was such an animal lover, Fiedler’s parents are asking that anyone who wants to make any type of memorial donation give to an animal rescue foundation of their choice.