Robert Charles Fisher, the Wayzata shoe repairman known to generations of residents as “Shoe Bob,” who started what became the Interfaith Outreach Sleep Out, died October 1, 2026. He was 78.
Fisher spent decades at Bob’s Shoe Repair, first in the former Wayzata Bay Center and later at Colonial Square. Customers brought him shoes, boots and other leather goods to repair.
Born August 30, 1948, Fisher grew up in Anoka and spent portions of his childhood in St. Michael and Montrose. After high school, he served in the United States Navy, leaving the service in November 1970.
He worked at a shoe store in Anoka for 25 cents an hour plus room and board. Later, he traveled between towns collecting shoes for repair and returning them to customers. He eventually made his way to Wayzata.
From 1972 to 1980, Fisher managed the shoe repair operation at The Foursome in the old Wayzata Bay Center. In May 1980, he purchased the business from the Engel family and established Bob’s Shoe Repair.
When the Bay Center was slated for demolition in 2008, Fisher moved the shop uphill to Colonial Square. He sold it to Dave and Becca Young in May 2015. The shop kept his name.
One tent in a Wayzata front yard
In 1995, Fisher decided to spend a winter night outside.
In a 2020 interview with Bethel University journalism students Miranda Erbele and Kadrian Chambers, Fisher recalled pitching a bright yellow North Face tent behind his Wayzata home. At first, he simply wanted to see whether he could make it through the night.
That night, Fisher said, he felt called to move the tent into his front yard and use it to help others. He had seen families visiting the Interfaith Outreach food shelf and wondered how they would pay for Thanksgiving dinner.
Fisher set a goal of raising $7,000, enough to provide Thanksgiving meals for 100 families. He shared the idea with customers at his shoe repair shop, and donations began arriving.
Interfaith Outreach founder LaDonna Hoy recalled in 2012 that Fisher brought in $10,000 that first year. Hoy encouraged him to do it again the following winter, this time raising money to help families facing homelessness.
Fisher slept outside about 270 nights over the next 11 years, according to the 2020 account. The annual Sleep Out became an Interfaith Outreach & Community Partners campaign.
Students, families, churches, community organizations, and businesses began holding their own sleep outs. Tents appeared outside homes, schools, and places of worship throughout the western suburbs.
Minnesota Twins players Corey Koskie and Joe Mauer were among those who spent nights outside with Fisher, sometimes in subzero temperatures.
Recognition in Congress
On April 25, 2002, U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad paid tribute to Fisher on the floor of the House of Representatives. Ramstad reported that Fisher’s sleep outs had raised more than $1 million during their first six years, including $520,000 during the preceding winter.
The congressman recalled joining Fisher for a night outdoors in December 1997, when temperatures dropped below zero.
Ramstad also described the 2001 Sleep Out kickoff in Wayzata, when more than 500 supporters gathered. Girl Scouts served soup, bread, and hot chocolate, Boy Scouts maintained four campfires along Lake Street, and approximately 200 young people joined Fisher in spending the night outside.
By early 2014, the Star Tribune reported that the Sleep Out had raised more than $19 million, including a record $2 million from the 2013 campaign.
In 2020, Interfaith Outreach reported that Sleep Out contributions had helped the organization prevent homelessness more than 34,000 times through direct rental assistance. Funds also supported food, family assistance, education, employment, and transportation programs.
Young people and the Sleep Out
Fisher also encouraged children and teenagers to join the Sleep Out.
In a June 2009 Wayzata.com article, Jennifer Swanick wrote about his work with young people.
One of them was Peter Larson, 14, whom Fisher credited with raising about $100,000 during the preceding winter. “It’s amazing what young people can do,” Fisher said.
Fisher was also working on a book, Shoe Bob: Heart and Sole. To raise money for it, he offered sponsorships at $1 per word, $10 per paragraph, $250 per page and $2,500 per chapter.
Wayzata Community Church, where Fisher was a member, made the Sleep Out part of its middle school programming. Students spent a night outdoors and learned about the financial difficulties facing other families.
In a 2020 interview, Fisher described driving through the community and seeing tents that other people had pitched. “I drive around and it feels like I tuck my community in,” he said.
Wayzata and his later years
Fisher moved into his home in Wayzata’s Frog Hollow neighborhood in 1976. He stayed involved in town after retiring from the shoe repair business.
He urged newcomers to walk around town, stop in the shops and get to know the people who worked there. Even as Wayzata changed around him, he believed it remained a welcoming place.
The Wayzata West Metro Chamber named Fisher grand marshal of the James J. Hill Days Parade in 2024.
He had suffered a stroke earlier that summer and spent weeks in rehabilitation. Friends and supporters raised money to make his home more accessible.
Fisher told Wayzata.com that he considered the selection an honor, but wanted to give God the credit.
In a September 2025 interview with Wayzata.com, Fisher and his wife, Terrisa, talked about mounting expenses and how Wayzata’s short-term rental restrictions affected their ability to stay in their longtime home.
Fisher disagreed with the city’s decision, but said, “It hasn’t changed my love for this community.”
His family said Fisher had taken to telling people he loved them, a practice he continued during his final visits. They also recalled a phrase he often shared: “Do something good.”
Family and services
Fisher is survived by his wife, Terrisa; son Jeremy (Jane); daughters Jennifer (Kelvin) Schmidt and Jessica; stepsons Joel III (Amber) and Jacob Miller; at least 14 grandchildren; seven siblings; and numerous other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents and one sister.
Visitation will be held Friday, October 23, from 4 to 7 p.m. at David Lee Funeral Home, 1220 E. Wayzata Boulevard, Wayzata.
A celebration of life will take place Saturday, October 24, at 10 a.m. at Wayzata Community Church, 125 Wayzata Boulevard, followed by a light lunch at the church.
The family has requested memorial contributions to the Sleep Out through Interfaith Outreach & Community Partners, 1605 County Road 101 N., Plymouth, Minnesota 55447.
The family’s official obituary and service information are available through David Lee Funeral Home.
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