Kathryn D. Fairchild

Kathryn Ann (Denn) Fairchild (75) left this world on March 28, 2026, at Redbanks in Henderson, Ky., under the care of St. Anthony’s Hospice. 

Born in Belvidere, Ill., to Kenneth and Carol (Goke) Denn on August 11, 1950, she grew up in Platteville, Wis., with her parents, brother Michael Denn and sister Mary (Denn) Baxter. 

In her young years she was full of life and found joy in performing dance with her sister, especially tap. Married right out of high school, she began her family with the birth of her son, Robert (Bob) Eric Quam Jr. (St. Jacob, Ill.), followed closely with her first daughter Wendy Lynn (Quam) Sutton (Henderson, Ky.). Through their early childhood they lived in various states before settling in Kentucky where she would call home for the remainder of her life and add the final daughter Brandy Jo (Quam) Spainhoward (Tomball, Tx.) to the family. 

Throughout the early lives of her children, she was a dedicated volunteer for their elementary school, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and 4-H while also working at the local library in Hartford, Ky. It was likely this time volunteering and working in libraries which inspired her love of books. If you ever met her or saw her in public, you could guarantee there was a book in her hand or tucked safely into her purse. 

Later in her life in 1995, she married Robert Eugene Fairchild and worked in several different companies throughout Henderson, including Sights Denim, Walmart, McDonald’s, and until she was unable to work last fall, Redbanks. She was a hardworking woman who never took the easy way out. She performed very manual, laborious positions and was the first to show up for her shift and the last to leave.

Her family expanded when Bob married Adelia (Sams) Quam and blessed her with four grandchildren, Dylan Scott Quam (wife Jessica), Cathrine Adelia (Quam) Smreker (husband Jake), Megan Anne Quam and Nicholas Arthur Quam. Followed closely by Wendy’s son Leland Winston Robert Cross and her later marriage to husband Tim Sutton. Additionally, Brandy married Mark Spainhoward and added two more granddaughters to the family, Sydney Marie (Spainhoward) Bowers (husband Isaac) and Bentley Paige Spainhoward. 

In her final years, when she wasn’t at work or enjoying bingo with friends at the Gathering Place, she enjoyed sitting by the Ohio River reading her books, watching the wildlife and admiring the boats as they passed. She will be greatly missed, leaving memories for those she loved and those to whom she had the privilege to know through the years, but she will rejoice as she joins her parents, sister, husband and dear pet cat, Orion once again for eternity in heaven. 

There will be a Celebration of Life on Saturday, April 18 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Thomason’s Banquet Hall on Atkinson St. in Henderson. All who wish to join in honoring her memory are welcome.