Betty Darlene Fairbanks

Betty Darlene Fairbanks (née Keesey) was born on August 10th in 1940 in New Kensington, Pennsylvania to Virginia and James Keesey. As a young child, Betty grew up with her three sisters, Connie, Margerie, Penny, and her brother James, in Aluminum City Terrace company housing until Betty was in 7th grade. Then the family moved to Gilpin Township outside Leechburg. To help with her family’s finances, as a teenager Betty worked at a diner called Tony’s Dairy, a pattern of selflessness that exemplified her life.

After high school, Betty became the first person in her family to attend college, eventually earning her bachelor’s degree in English and German at Thiel College in Pennsylvania. She would go on to earn her master’s degree at the University of Pittsburgh. Following graduation, she got a job as a high school teacher in English and German at Kiski Area High School, in Vandergrift Pennsylvania, where she became close friends with Betty Johnson (née Gibson).

As a teacher, Betty had the opportunity to travel to Germany, a trip that would change her life. Meeting and talking with a pair of returned missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Betty resolved to learn more about the faith when she returned stateside. This would lead to her joining the church with her best friend and colleague Betty Johnson.

Betty met the man who would become her husband, Avard Fairbanks, on a blind date in Michigan, approximately halfway between where he was living in California and where she was living in Pennsylvania. They must have really hit it off because she joined him in California for a second date shortly afterwards, on a beach near Los Angeles where he asked her to marry him. She said she needed some time to think about it. They were engaged on their third date.

Together in California, Betty and Avard started their family with the births of children Ruth, Avard, and Rosemary. Having never made peace with California earthquakes, wildfires, and scorpions, Betty was happy to move to Salt Lake City in 1973. She did, however, miss those fresh California avocados. It was in Utah where their children, Jonathan, James, Sarah, Joseph, Benjamin, and Thomas were born.

Growing up in rural Pennsylvania with her brother and sisters, Betty dreamed one day of becoming either a taxi driver or a teacher. Later, raising her nine children, Betty would joke that she accomplished both of these aspirations. Of course, her children were not the only people who received their education from Betty. As a teacher at Bryant Junior High in Salt Lake City for twenty-five years, she built strong programs for National History Day competitions and Future Problem Solving. She taught English and German to so many seventh and eighth graders that it was impossible for her, after retirement, to leave the house without running into a former student who would greet her with “Hello Mrs. Fairbanks” or “Guten Tag, Frau Fairbanks.” Retirement didn’t mean that Betty stopped teaching. She leveraged her considerable talents into her church service and in other volunteer opportunities.

With her love of language, two phrases that Betty seldom used were “son-in-law” or “daughter-in-law.” She considered the spouses of her children as her own and treated them accordingly, taking pride in the character and accomplishments of her new children.

As much as she loved her job as a teacher and her service in and outside of church, Betty’s favorite job was Grandma. She couldn’t keep track of her car keys or reading glasses and had been known to leave behind one or two of her own children, leading to the Fairbanks version of no child left behind: the count-off. She did, however, always know exactly where all of her thirty-four grandchildren were. Each and every one of them was special to her and when they talked to her, they could never doubt it because whatever was most important to them, on an individual level, was the most important thing for her as well.

In 2025, Betty left her much loved Rose Park neighborhood to live in Ogden at Legacy House where, true to her affable character, she built many new close friendships. With friends in both her Salt Lake and Ogden wards, she boasted a social calendar that would make the most outgoing person jealous. Still, she made time to tutor students in the Ogden Public Library program, participate in book clubs and indulge her love of theater.

After a recent illness, Betty passed away at McKay Dee Hospital on Sept 8, 2026. It took two busy days for Betty to say good-byes to a long list of visitors and callers who loved her dearly. She passed peacefully, with her children holding her hands and singing her on. She is survived by her nine children, thirty-four grandchildren, and nine (or ten, any day now) great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband Avard and her sisters and brothers (including her younger brother, David, who died as an infant), as well as by her honorary sister, Betty Johnson.

Those who knew her miss her. Those who didn’t missed out.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, September 19, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. at the Rose Park North Stake Center, 1200 North 1200 West, where friends and family may visit one hour prior to the service. Interment will follow at Larkin Sunset Lawn Cemetery, 2350 East 1300 South, SLC. Those wishing to attend virtually can click the “watch services” button above.