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Watch: Late city commissioner Nick Fish remembered as an exemplary politician, kind, a problem solver

Fish died on Jan. 2 after battling abdominal cancer for two years.

PORTLAND, Ore. — More than 600 people attended a celebration of life for Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish on Sunday afternoon at Portland State University.

Fish died on Jan. 2 after battling abdominal cancer for two years. He was 61. He spent 11 years serving on the Portland City Council and called it the great honor of his life.

The celebration of life was held inside Portland State University's Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom.

“As we all know, Nick persevered for two and a half years with his diagnosis, doing what he loved to do most, enjoying his family and serving his constituents,” explained Nick Fish’s younger brother Peter Fish. “He knew how precious that time was and he exercised it all to all of our benefit.”

Those who worked alongside Fish said he was the epitome of a public servant.

“This is a hard day, and I will tell you that Nick Fish was the person who always gave public service a good name,” said Senator Ron Wyden. “When I think of Nick, the two words that come to mind, the two ideas, is he really cared and he really listened.”

Fish’s compassion for people, his sense of humor, and his inclusive spirit were just a few of the things many said they would miss most about him.

“Nick Fish created many, many ripples of hope and we will all miss that,” explained House Speaker Tina Kotek.

Former Oregon Gov. Barbara Roberts, who was among the list of speakers, said it was tough to find the right words to describe him.

"It was not words that defined Nick Fish, you could sense his compassion and empathy in a single handshake," Roberts said

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said Fish could have gone anywhere, but stayed in Portland because he really loved the city and wanted to make it better.

“I think Nick could’ve gone anywhere in politics,” Wheeler explained. “He was super intelligent. He was the consummate statesmen. If he wanted to go to the U.S. Senate, who knows, he could’ve gone to the U.S. Senate. He turned down a job with the Obama Administration and the reality was, he wanted to be here. He loved the work he was doing at the local level and he gave everything he had for it and I’m grateful to him and I’m grateful to his family for having shared that time, that energy, and that talent to really improve our community.”

Wheeler said Fish is also very missed on the city council.

“It’s been sad, having his seat be vacant at the end of the rostrum,” Wheeler explained. “There’s only four of us on the council now and we all miss his presence. We can almost predict some of the things he would’ve said, the issues that he would’ve had an interest in, and from time to time, we find ourselves asking questions that we know he would’ve asked, and we say things like well if Nick were here, he would’ve wanted to know this, this, and this and so we realize he’s left a gap, but he’s very much in our hearts, very much in our thoughts and I personally just feel honored to have known him for the 20 years that I knew him.”

KGW live streamed the memorial.

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