Jean C. (MacIvor) Fairchild

Age 90

Passed on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, surrounded by loving family and caregivers.

Jean was born in 1934 to English and Scottish immigrants, and lived her entire life in Rochester and the surrounding area. She graduated from Madison High School in 1951. She worked for General Motors – Rochester Products Division, and later, Clifton Springs Hospital and Clinic. She married Gordon Schramm in 1953 and together they had four daughters. After Gordon’s passing in 1960, Jean met and married Earl (Clarence) Fairchild in 1968, became a loving step-mother to 9 children and had two more daughters. In 1973, they moved to Clifton Springs, and lived in the Finger Lakes region for nearly 50 years – enjoying farm life with her children and grandchildren.

Jean loved music. She played the piano, sang in a number of church and community choirs, and was a member of community theater –  appearing in and working on costume design for several stage productions. Her talent never ended – from sewing, knitting and crocheting to enjoying time in her garden. Every new baby in the family received a home-made sweater set and a christening bonnet.

She loved to travel, especially to her beloved United Kingdom which included many memorable trips to London and York where her mother was born and raised. And, she was a proud Scot – a daughter of a Scottish Soldier and bagpiper from Inverness, Scotland.

Year-round memories with the family were made at the family’s Adirondack camp, enjoying everything from hiking, canoeing and campfires in the summer to skiing, snowmobiling and  ice skating in the winter.

Children and grandchildren were central to her life. She rarely missed a soccer, basketball, football, field or ice hockey game, dance recital, track event, cheer or band performance or birthday celebration.

Jean is described by many as, quite simply, a lovely person.  Everything she did was done with grace, patience and kindness.  Yet, she was a brutal competitor at a game of Old Maid with the grandchildren, was a fierce supporter of her beloved Buffalo Bills, and there are many witnesses to her participation in family football games long after she became a grandmother.  She was still climbing mountains in the Adirondacks at nearly 80 years old.  Jean had an excellent sense of humor, and her family derived great satisfaction at making her dissolve into her fits of laughter.  Our family is profoundly grateful to have had such a strong and loving woman at our center.

Jean is predeceased by her parents, Duncan and Gertrude McIvor, her first husband Gordon Schramm, and second husband Earl Fairchild, her grandson Nathan HerrGesell, her brother Colin McIvor, and step-children Rita Ann Fairchild Gleave, Patrick Fairchild, and step-son-in-law Dennis Marra; sister-in-laws Helen Fairchild Dunay and Ann Fairchild Beauchemin.

Jean is survived by her children:  Donna (David) Clookey, Linda (David) Garland, Diane (Kevin) O’Brien, Julie (Jerry) Beach, Katie (Leif) HerrGesell, Jeanne Fairchild (Tony Tringale).  Also her step-children:  Daniel (Barbara) Fairchild, Maureen (Lou) Wolsiefer, Colleen (Scott) Woodruff, Mary Marra, Jack (Gail) Fairchild, James Fairchild; 27 grandchildren, 31 great grandchildren, and 2 great-great grandchildren. Also her sister, Shirley Roets, several nieces and nephews, and numerous cousins across the ocean in England and Australia.

The family would like to give a special thanks to The Friendly Home staff in Rochester for their respectful and loving care of our mother, and for their incredible support of our family over the past several months. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Jean’s memory to The Friendly Home Memorial Fund (https://www.friendlyseniorliving.org/donate/) or The Parkinson’s Disease Association (https://www.apdaparkinson.org/get-involved/ways-to-give/).

Calling hours will be held Thursday April 25th from 4-7 p.m. at Jarmusz Cotton Funeral Home (26 Maple Ave. Victor, NY). Jean’s Funeral Mass will be celebrated Friday April 26th 10 a.m. at St. Patrick’s Church (115 Maple Ave. Victor, NY). Interment will be private.