Albert (Ozzie) Fischer Jr. was a man of the land who always had dirt beneath his fingernails, a farmer and arborist with a fondness for practical jokes.

Mr. Fischer was remembered last Saturday in a gathering at the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury of nearly 300 friends and family members, including his four children, 15 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

He died at the age of 96 on July 26.

Granddaughter Andrea Scott said her grandfather was the epitome of the phrase “work is love made visible.”

Grandson Josh Scott recalled how his grandfather spoke to his trees, vegetables and flowers at Beetlebung Farm, the family farm in Chilmark.

Josh Scott spoke about his grandfather’s love of family. — Mark Alan Lovewell

“He took care of them,” Josh said. “Pop cultivated the same relationship with this family and friends and we are all better people for it . . . My impression of my grandfather was a hard-working farmer who loved everything around him.”

An accomplished arborist, Mr. Fischer planted trees on his farm, some from seed, including copper beech, cherry, poplar, cedar, maples, holly, fruit trees, oaks and even a sequoia (redwood) that began as a sapling from California and eventually grew to 50 feet in height.

At around the time of Mr. Fischer’s death, the redwood began to decline and eventually died. Josh Scott felled the tree and cut it into pieces that were stacked in a large basket by the door for people to take.

Albert Fischer, “I always wanted to be like my father.” — Mark Alan Lovewell

Mr. Fischer’s pranks were legendary.

His son, Albert O. Fischer 3rd, recalled one Friday night when his father took chickens down to his brother Arnold’s Flat Point Farm in West Tisbury, knowing no one would be home because on Friday nights the Flat Point Farm Fischers ate dinner out at the Artcliff Diner. The mischievous Ozzie Fischer put the chickens in the outhouse. His niece Eleanor was later the first to make a trip to the outhouse.

“My father said he could hear her screaming from Chilmark,” Albert said.

Through laughter and tears, Albert said he learned the definition of hero from his father.

“I always wanted to be like my father, I was very proud of my father,” he said. “I’m very proud of who I am and I owe that to my father.”

And of course the celebration included good food. Roasted turkey, kale salad, Beetlebung Farm greens, pasta and hamburgers were among the fare at the community potluck following the service. Two tables were dedicated to desserts, including at least 30 pies.

It was a fitting feast, since Mr. Fischer had a well-known sweet tooth, especially for Chilmark Chocolates.

“If my father was here he’d lean over to me and say, I wish people would stop talking so we can have some dessert,” Albert Fischer told the crowd.