WILLIAMSBURG, Va. Ruth Fisher, the matriarch and co-founder of a diversified school bus, motorcoach and bus sales company, died here last month. She was 89.

Together with her husband, Marvin, and son, Mark, Mrs. Fisher helped found what became Virginia Overland Transportation Co. in Richmond, Va., in the early 1970s.

By the mid-1980s, the company had grown to be the second-largest private operator of school buses in Virginia (after Laidlaw); a major dealer for Wayne Corp., the now-defunct school bus manufacturer; an operator of paratransit buses for the transit system in Richmond, and a charter coach operator with a modest fleet of mostly MCIs.

In addition to these operations, Virginia Overland also provided commuter transportation, university shuttles, van service, special event operations, and contract services.

During the decade or more of the companys growth, Mrs. Fisher continued to drive a school bus everyday for the Richmond public schools even though her son and husband were operating a fleet of more than a 100 school buses for nearby school districts and she was functioning daily as an officer and executive of the company.

Her son Mark said she was a member of a small cadre of drivers who were deeply committed to the Richmond schools and the safety of children who had to literally ride out school desegregation programs during that period.

In the second half of the 1980s, the company began downsizing after it was hit by the insurance crisis of 1985-86 and health problems struck Marvin Fisher.

Following labor troubles in 1986 and 1987, several of Virginia Overlands major public school district customers began operating their own buses.

In 1996, Mr. and Mrs. Fisher retired. A year later, Mr. Fisher died.

In June 2004, the Greater Richmond Transit Company assumed 80 percent of Virginia Overland's contract operations, and the company was forced out of business.

After her retirement, Mrs. Fishers interests centered around her church, her circle of friends, her family and the business.

In addition to her son, she is survived by her daughter, Linda Jane Fisher of Richmond, Ind.

A memorial has been established in her name with the Alzheimer's Association Southeastern Virginia Chapter, 263 McLaws Circle, Ste. 203,

Williamsburg, VA 23185.