Central Indiana realtor Tim Queisser danced with his wife, Cathy, at F.C. Tucker’s 2023 Christmas party two days before receiving the call that he was approved for a liver transplant.
“The most ironic thing is we were on the phone talking to our lawyer about my will,” says Tim.
When Cathy saw the call from Indiana University Health about the transplant, she ran out of the room. Within an hour, the couple arrived at the hospital for Tim’s operation. He received his new liver at midnight.
“These days I’m very joyful for what I have around me,” he says. “And grateful that I’m still alive.”
Tim was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis in 2006, a disease that causes the immune system to attack the liver.
“He was told years ago that this will lead up at some point in time to needing a liver transplant,” says Cathy. “So we knew this was ahead of us.”
Tim entered IU Health at around 180 pounds. He spent more than 100 days in and out of the hospital due to complications. By the end of his stay, his weight had plummeted to 138 pounds. He endured an abdominal infection, a stint with a feeding tube and a daily regimen of 30 pills.
None of that stopped him. With the help of physical therapy, he took his first steps around the house, working up to the driveway and then the street.
The 70-year-old survivor lived to walk his daughter down the aisle, attend the wedding of his son and celebrate his mother’s 101st birthday. Tim even completed a three-mile journey for the 2024 Walk for Life event in support of organ donors and recipients.
“I don’t want to be a poor-me story,” says Tim. “I want to be a very positive story.”
Tim’s recovery would have been impossible without the Indiana Donor Network.
More than 1,000 Hoosiers are on the transplant waiting list. Anyone can sign up to be an organ donor through the network and save the lives of people like Tim.
“They need donors, obviously,” says Tim. “The more people can do for that, the better off everybody is.”
The Queisser family has been with St. Simon parish for three decades. Their children, Kylie, Nate and Cory, attended the school through eighth grade. Tim received notes and letters from church members throughout his recovery.
“Cathy and I consider myself a minor miracle,” says Tim.
He announced his return to F.C. Tucker in February 2025, joining forces with fellow realtor, Patty Torr.
Tim embarked on his career as a real estate broker in 2012. He was inducted into F.C. Tucker’s Lifetime President’s Club by 2022, celebrating a sales volume of $5,000,000 for five years. However, he struggled during his first two years as a realtor until he learned a valuable lesson at a Butler Bulldogs basketball game that changed his perspective on life.
“This gentleman got up and spoke about him fighting cancer, and having a positive story and a positive attitude and prayer,” says Tim. “I wear a band now on my wrist. It’s a blue band that says ‘Stay positive’ and the backside says ‘G3’ which means give glory to God.”
That key moment on the basketball court was the catalyst that inspired his success in real estate.
Tim has led many lives. From 1983 to 2011, he was the manager and owner of the Snooty Fox pub. The restaurant boasted 130 seats and a catering operation. The defunct eatery’s namesake came to Tim during a backpacking trip through Europe, where he ran into an English pub with the mammalian moniker.
Tim’s establishment was featured on a 2011 episode of Food Network’s “Restaurant: Impossible”. Unfortunately, celebrity chef and television show host Robert Irvine failed to revitalize the pub, which closed less than a year later. Life had other plans in store for the Queissers.
Tim promised himself he would retire at 70, but the resilient realtor now looks forward to working for as long as he is healthy. When he is not on the hunt to find homeowners their perfect pad, he spends time with his loving family and his church, and cheers on his favorite team, the Butler Bulldogs.
Tim’s office at F.C. Tucker is located at 10404 Olio Road in Fishers. He serves central Indiana and the lake areas of Syracuse, Indiana. You can give him a call at 317-440-8324 or check out his realtor profile at talktotucker.com/tim.queisser for more information.
