Dr. David (Dave) Joel Fair, our loving husband, father, brother, uncle, grandfather, and great-grandfather, was born of Jewish descent on May 5, 1946, in Dallas, Texas, to Jake and LaBella Stein Fair. He was reunited with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on January 7, 2023, at the age of 76.

Graveside services for Dave will be held on Saturday, May 6, at 2:00 pm at Cowboy Cemetery in Rochelle (between Mercury/Placid). A procession will line up at 1:00 pm at Blaylock Funeral Home. The family will receive visitors at Blaylock Funeral Home on Friday, May 5, from 6:00-8:00 pm. Arrangements are under the direction of Blaylock Funeral Home of Brownwood.

Dave was an inspiration to so many people. Unfortunately, as a young man, he could not complete high school with his peers due to an illness. But he did not let that stop him. He got his GED, attended Howard Payne University and Tarleton State University, and graduated from Elkins Institute in Dallas, a radio broadcasting school. Throughout his lifetime, he would continue to pursue higher education and training, eventually earning his Ph.D. from Central Christian University. He loved to learn and instilled this in his children and grandchildren.

Beloved among his large circle of friends, Dave was a respected leader in his hometown of Brownwood, Texas, and earned national acclaim for his tireless devotion to police chaplaincy.

His expansive career began at the age of 13 in radio broadcasting, where he spent over 25 years working for many local radio stations such as KEAN and KBWD. Then in 1976, he co-founded KPSM with his friends Marion Bishop and Bert Williams.

In 1977 Dave took on a new role as Sales Manager for RMI/Rotocast Plastics, becoming General Manager in 1989. Dave loved animals, and his favorite products that Rotocast produced were pet products. He would spend over thirty years at Rotocast.

Dave served his community as a member of the Brownwood City Council from 1986-2010, where he loved being the voice for his district and championing causes he believed in for his community.

But Dave’s passion was always in pre-hospital care and law enforcement. He started Brownwood’s first private ambulance service in the 1960’s when local funeral homes gave up the service. He became an ordained minister in 1985 and began his journey as a Chaplain with the Brownwood Police & Fire Departments and Medevac EMS in 1989.

As a certified law enforcement officer and EMT, Dave received multiple disciplines related to crisis intervention and traumatic stress. He provided a beacon of light through some of the darkest days of the late 20th century. His deployments include Luby’s Cafeteria mass murders in Killeen, Texas, the aftermath of Waco’s Branch Davidian stand-off, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Space Shuttle Columbia’s debris field recovery effort, and Ground Zero in the days following September 11. He also responded to many natural disasters, such as Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Dolly, Gustav, and Ike.

After being inspired by his son-in-law’s service in the military and seeing a great need for military families, he found a way to serve as a Chaplain with the Texas State Guard, working with the soldiers and their families of the Texas National Guard 111th Engineers. In addition, he served with the Texas Dept. of Public Safety’s Critical Incident Response Team, as a Hostage Negotiator with the Brown County Sheriff’s Office, as the Animal Cruelty Investigator/Deputy Sheriff for Brown County, and with the Texas Dept. of Health’s Critical Incident Stress Management Network.

Over the past 15 years, Dave has honored his fellow police chaplains as co-founder of the Police Chaplain Project, a nationwide effort to digitally capture the words and wisdom of America’s police chaplains and share the content with future generations of police chaplains.

Dave’s passion was always in service to others and was a self-proclaimed “adrenaline junkie” who tirelessly volunteered his time to the community and his country. In 1997 he was quoted as saying, “Busy people are often criticized, but to remind me to keep it in perspective, I keep a quote from Aristotle on my desk: Criticism is something we can easily avoid by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”

Dave is survived by his wife of 47 years, Karen. He often referred to her as the “wind beneath his wings.” He is also survived by his three daughters, Felicity Sale of Grapevine and Shanna Jacobson, and husband Craig of Brownwood, and LaCindi Fair of Brownwood. His granddaughters, Emily Sale of Grapevine, Lilly Sale of Grapevine, Meagan Person and husband Dylan of Brady, and Courtney Jacobson and fiancé Dylan Dybas of Cedar Park. And one great-granddaughter, Bethany Joy Person. Dave is also survived by his brother, Edward (Ed) Fair of Costa Rica, niece Sossity Fair of Round Rock, great niece Riley Beard of Round Rock, and one great nephew Zane Beard of Round Rock.

John 3:16-For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.