Update: Fairchild, former Hilton Head Island councilman, dies at 90

A former Hilton Head Island councilman who served on the island's second-ever council died Friday.

Bruce Fairchild died at Hilton Head Regional Medical Center, five days after his 90th birthday.

Three years after moving to the Lowcountry, Fairchild joined the Hilton Head town council, serving from 1985 to 1987. He was also a member of the Beaufort County Transportation Committee from 1994 to 2004 -- when he resigned to join the committee tasked with selecting construction projects for a sales tax referendum included on the 2004 election ballot.

Born in Syracuse, N.Y. on Nov. 23, 1925, to the late Wallace and Ruth Fairchild, he spent most of his life in the northeast before moving to Hilton Head with his wife Helen in 1982. The couple were married from 1954 until Helen Fairchild's death in 2008.

Fairchild graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He also served briefly in the U.S. Army Air Corps around the end of World War II, following in the footsteps of his brother, an accomplished fighter pilot in the Pacific Theater, according to Fairchild's son Todd.

Fairchild spent nearly the entirety of his professional career in trust banking both in the U.S. and overseas. He worked for banks in Rochester, N.Y., and in Plantation, Fla., after moving there in the mid-1970s, Todd Fairchild said.

The couple were on their way back from a trip to the northeast when they decided to act on a friend's advice and take a detour to Hilton Head. They visited and quickly fell in love with the island, making plans to relocate there, Todd Fairchild said.

His father took a job with the Bank of Boston, opening the trust office for the Old Colony Trust Company soon after his move.

Bruce Fairchild was an active member of the Rotary Club of Hilton Head Island, the Greater Island Council, and the Hilton Head Republican Party. He also served as an elder and treasurer at First Presbyterian Church. Todd Fairchild said his father was always active in the community everywhere he went, but his council seat on Hilton Head was his first elected position.

His favorite part of working on Hilton Head's town council was championing land to set aside for green spaces and public parks, some of which still exist today, his son said.

"It really was his passion," Todd Fairchild said. "He worked very hard on it."

His health took a turn about a year and a half ago when a fall led to a broken hip, Fairchild's son said. He was in ill health for over a year, but he appeared to be improving before his death Friday.

Fairchild is survived by daughter Elizabeth Lowe and her husband Gary Lowe of Canton, Mass.; son Todd Fairchild and his wife Mimi Fairchild of Seattle; daughter Juliet Calvert and her husband Floyd Calvert of Sinton, Tex.; and three grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held 2 p.m. Wednesday at The First Presbyterian Church on William Hilton Parkway, according to the Island Funeral Home and Crematory.

A reception will be held at the church immediately following the service.

In lieu of flowers, donations may made to the Endowment Fund of First Presbyterian Church, 540 William Hilton Parkway, Hilton Head Island, S.C. 29928.

This story was originally published November 30, 2015 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Update: Fairchild, former Hilton Head Island councilman, dies at 90."