John Fairlie III

John Edward Fairlie III, 66, of Caldwell, Idaho, passed away December 26, 2025, with his loving wife at his side. John was born June 4, 1959, to John Edward Fairlie II and Patricia Ann Hunt in Springfield, Massachusetts. His family later moved to Oregon, where he finished high school in Grants Pass and college at Rogue Community College. John followed his family and his love of the outdoors to Alaska, where he lived in Anchorage and Wasilla and worked for the Bureau of Land Management, Alaska State Office. There he developed a love of surveying, cartography, and geographic information systems, which he later took with him as one of the first cartographers at the BLM Idaho State Office, in Boise, Idaho, to use AutoCAD on a computerized system to produce digitized maps and products. John expanded his education in Geographic Information Systems, attending Boise State University and La Grande Community College in Eastern Oregon, taking courses in astronomy, climate and sustainability, environmental sciences, and cultural geography. John turned his love of mapping into a 30-year career with the BLM, beginning in Alaska and continuing in Boise, Idaho, where he met the love of his life, Pamela Ruein Story. After working together side by side for 5 years, John proposed to Pamela on a map, to which she happily accepted. John and Pamela held fast unto each other with an inseparable devotion. In addition to his love of all things mapping, John enjoyed gold prospecting, gold panning, hunting and fishing, and planting trees. John is survived by his devoted wife, Pamela; a sister, Samantha McGibbins; a brother, Ray Torres; children John Ryan Fairlie, Adam Mathews Berain, and Heather Lee Bristow; and 8 grandchildren.