C. Robinson Fish III, 88; promoted medical bracelets

Now commonplace, the bracelets invented by a California doctor were rare when Mr. Fish, a life insurance and estate planning specialist, first learned that his oldest son William would probably die if he received another routine tetanus shot.

“My husband was able to think on a worldwide scale of things,’’ said Mr. Fish’s wife, Shirley. “He knew this was something waiting to happen. People needed this.’’

Mr. Fish died Wednesday at age 88 at EPOCH Senior Healthcare facility in Chestnut Hill, where he had lived since he suffered a massive stroke in 2008.

In the 1960s, Mr. Fish was the first chairman of the board for the Boston Life Underwriters Association’s effort to enroll thousands in the nonprofit Medic Alert Foundation, which distributes the warning bracelets carrying an emblem now familiar to medical personnel.

The Foundation, started by Dr. Marion Collins, now has more than 4 million members worldwide.

Mr. Fish and his wife always wore Medic Alert bracelets announcing their desire to be organ donors.

Mr. Fish promoted use of the bracelets when he traveled the world in the 1970s as a chartered life underwriter and as president of the Million Dollar Roundtable, a trade association for life insurance and financial advisers whose charitable foundation gives millions of dollars to charities.

“He had a wonderful command of language and thought and became a sought-after speaker in the life insurance industry,’’ said his friend Roderick Geer of Wayland, who was executive director of the Million Dollar Roundtable.

“When you work with Rob Fish, he makes you want to put your quill away, because he had such command of language,’’ Geer said. “It was a joy to work with him.’’

Born in Worcester, Mr. Fish met his wife when they were in high school in Providence. They graduated from Hope High School in 1940.

Mr. Fish went to Brown and earned a degree in engineering before serving in the Navy during World War II. He served as a junior grade lieutenant in the Pacific on the USS Wilkes.

He and Shirley (Arthur) were married 66 years and had three children. They were longtime residents of the Waban section of Newton.

Mr. Fish left a note to be read at his memorial service. “This is not a day for sadness, but rather a day for celebration for a life richly blessed in every way,’’ he wrote. “Could any person ask for more than to be part of talented and dedicated groups intent on improving this world in which we are privileged to live.’’

In addition to his wife, Mr. Fish leaves his sons William of Concord, N.H., and David of Newton; his daughter Marcia Bennett Riley of Silver Spring, Md.; two grandchildren; and two great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. tomorrow in St. John’s Episcopal Church in Newtonville. Burial will be in Newton Cemetery.