James Franklin Fairleigh III

Born the 24th of August 1931 to James Franklin and Lola Womack Fairleigh of Louisville, Kentucky. His family moved to Houston, Texas where he graduated from Stephen F. Austin High School in 1948. He joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 19 and served as a Medical Technician on the U.S.S. Franklin D. Roosevelt in the Atlantic Ocean during the Korean War. After the war, he attended the University of Houston, earning a B.S. in Chemistry. He married Margaret Ishbel Dunlop in 1956, sharing a life-long marriage and raising two daughters and one son in the same (Garden Villas) neighborhood where both of their parents lived. Jim continued his education at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Dental Branch, where he received his D.D.S. degrees, earning an advanced degree in Orthodontics after which he opened a private practice in that specialty in 1965 in Houston. He was an elected member of the Omicron Kappa Upsilon Honorary Dental Society.

Jim began developing real estate early in his career with the building of his first office on Colgate, and later was part of the corporation formed to build Valley Towers Professional Complex near Hobby Airport. In 1980 Jim purchased property in Friendswood, Texas and developed the neighborhoods called Mustang Meadows and Heritage Estates where he and Ishbel built their dream home on Clear Creek. Taking his Orthodontics practice to Friendswood in 1973 he treated many patients over many years until his retirement in 2013.

In addition to treating orthodontic patients, in 1988 Jim joined the Cleft Lip and Palate Teams at both UTMB Galveston and the Shriners Children’s Hospital in Galveston. He was the first to integrate Orthodontic care into the treatment management of children with cleft palate at these two institutions. He served international and U.S. cleft palate patients for 25 years until retiring in 2013. Jim was most proud to be a member of the faculty and medical staff in the department of surgery at UTMB Galveston where he was also elected to the honorary fellowship, the Singleton Surgical Society.

Professionally he was a member of the Doctors Club of Houston, Texas Dental Association,American Dental Association, Texas Association Orthodontics, American Association of Orthodontics, American Cleft Palate Association, and the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association. He served on the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners, and attended yearly symposiums earning CEU’s with Scottish Rite Children’s Medical Center.

Jim was a member of the Son’s of the Republic of Texas, the San Jacinto Decedents, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and The American Legion, and in 1998 traveled to Washington D.C. as a member of the Republican National Tax Reform Committee.

Jim had a wide scope of changing interests and with a “why not” attitude he was willing to learn to do anything. He invented and held the patent on a positioning devise that was called a Cephalostat, that could be used in the operating room that facilitated more precise imaging of the position of the jaw during surgeries.

In his lifetime he most enjoyed boating of any kind, owning sailing, fishing, and pleasure craft. He taught his children and grandchildren to water ski, sail and fish. He was a member of the Houston Yacht Club in Clear Lake.

He loved the land of Texas and ventured into cattle ranching, owning and operated several properties near Marlin, Texas. He provided his children with ponies and horses and the “Farm” experience. He was a member of the Texas and Southwest Cattle Raisers Association and he was a Lifetime Member of the Houston Livestock Association. He formed the Atlas Aviation Corporation, serving private aircraft at Houston Hobby Airport that operated during the 1960s and 70s. He became a licensed private pilot and flew his own Cessna from that operation. He enjoyed planning and designing landscapes and gardening on a large scale, both edible and ornamental plants. He loved hunting, fishing and being outdoors and was an avid and talented photographer. He was an extensive traveler with his wife, often including their children and grandchildren, taking trips to Mexico, South America, Europe, Russia, China, Bermuda, across the U.S., and to Antarctica.

It could be said his greatest interest was in learning and he believed education was the key to success. He put all of his children through college and assisted his grandchildren in their education and in the purchase of their first cars. He was Jim to his friends, Buddy and Uncle Buddy to family, Daddy and Dad to his children, “Grump-paw” and “Poffa” to his grandchildren.

Jim was pre deceased by his beloved wife “Ish” and his dear son Paul. He is survived by his daughters Margaret Lucia (Richard Lucia) of Alvin, Texas and Martha Runco (Joe Runco) of San Rafael, California, daughter-in-law Stephanie Fairleigh of Darien, Connecticut as well as six grand children: Philip Lucia, Erin Lucia, Amanda Lucia, Paul Runco, Anne Marie Runco and Lily Fairleigh; great grand children Emily Person and Austin Person. Also surviving are his brother Morton Fairleigh and sisters-in-law Sandy Fairleigh of Houston, Texas, Anne Holley of Pearland, Texas and Vera Dunlop of New Caney, Texas, as well as many, many of his cousins, and nieces and nephews. He loved life, was creative, inventive, tenacious and resilient. He was well loved by family and friends, and by his patients. He lived a long, eventful and fruitful life. May He Rest In Peace.

Jim asked that his cremated remains be interred in the Morton Cemetery in Richmond, Texas, and in lieu of flowers, that donations be made to Shriners Children’s-Texas Cleft Lip and Palate. Messages of condolence to his family can be sent to: J.F.Fairleigh Family, P.O. Box 985, Friendswood TX 77549.