Dr. Milton Fish, Unsung Hero of LABTS

In 1947, Dr. Milton Fish was serving as head of the Greek and Bible department of the National Bible Institute in New York City when he heard that Los Angeles Baptist Theological Seminary was in serious trouble. The school was experiencing a crisis of leadership, and unless someone stepped up, it was doomed to close.

So, together with his wife and the Hotchkiss Family, Fish moved his life to Los Angeles to help keep the vision of LABTS alive — moving at his own expense and with no promise of salary from the school. He became dean of the seminary, and because LABTS had no president at the time, Fish effectively served as acting president, continuing in that capacity until Dr. Carl Sweazy assumed the presidency in 1955.

In his booklet on the first 50 years of the school’s history, Sweazy wrote, “I have felt that in reference to Paul’s ‘Honor to whom honor is due’ (Romans 13:7), we have never done justice in bestowing proper honor on Dr. Fish. His was a poured-out life of spiritual endeavor for Christ in behalf of the school.”

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