Dr. Jack Fairley D.D.S.

8/16/1931 — 4/26/2025

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Jack Wayne Fairley took off for the high country on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at the age of 93 years and 9 months. He was born to Florence (Gill) Fairley and Zoel Fairley in Lewiston, on Aug. 16, 1931. He and his older brother Don attended elementary school in Headquarters, with a stint in Peck. He attended Lewiston High School where he participated in basketball, football and track and was proud to be a four-year letterman.

A few weeks before graduation in 1950, he was in a car wreck in Waha that derailed his plans to play basketball at Oregon State. Instead, he attended the University of Idaho and worked summers as a hooker for Potlatch Forests, Inc., in the woods and a grunt for Pacific Northwest Railroad. In 1954, he married his high school sweetheart Bettye Judd and the two of them left for St. Louis, where he attended Washington University and obtained his doctorate of dental surgery.

He then joined the U.S. Army for four years and achieved the rank of captain. He and Bettye were stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska, where their two children Scott and Lynn were born.

After leaving the Army, they returned to Idaho where he took over the dental practice of Dr. Kinney in Orofino. He practiced dentistry there for 40-plus years and raised his family. He and Bettye divorced in 1972 (or thereabouts). In the 1990s, he retired to a home he built in Lewiston near his children.

In his younger years he enjoyed hunting, fishing, trap shooting, camping and the great outdoors. He also played golf but not sure he ever really enjoyed it. In 1977, he helped built the family cabin on the Selway River where he and Scott and Lynn and friends had many good times.

He was preceded in death by his parents and brother Don. He is survived by his children Scott Fairley and Lynn Fairley, sister-in-law Jackie Fairley and nieces and nephews. He was a helluva dentist and the best dad ever. He worked hard all his life, had a good long run, and is now at rest.

Special thank you to his caregivers and hospice. No services are planned. Memorial donations may be made to Opportunities Unlimited in Lewiston, or to the OHS Alumni Scholarship Fund, Box 1592, Orofino, ID, 83544.

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