Jefferson Fountain III

1942 - 2026

Jefferson Lodrick Fountain III of Tucson, Arizona, died peacefully on March 9, 2026 after a long battle with cancer.



He was born in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1942 to Theodore King Fountain and Dora Howell Fountain Johnson, and spent his childhood in Farmville and Greenville, North Carolina. At NC State University, Jeff was an active member of the Sigma Nu fraternity and ROTC, graduating in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. He served overseas as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army from 1965 to 1967 before beginning his career as a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in Florida.



Over the course of his career, he worked at refuges throughout the southeastern United States before moving to a field office in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1980, he was selected for a management program with the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C., and later transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Southwest Regional Office in Albuquerque, New Mexico.



After retiring in the late 1990s, he continued to embrace new challenges, working for several years as an airplane mechanic. In recent years, he could be found working on his golf game at Oro Valley Country Club in Tucson.



Jeff was truly a Renaissance man - always eager to learn, explore, and master something new. An avid outdoorsman, he loved hunting, camping, and fishing, and also found joy in reading, drawing, and cooking. Over the years, he raced cars, flew airplanes, and sailed boats, approaching each pursuit with enthusiasm and curiosity. A devoted father and grandfather, and faithful friend, he will be dearly missed by all who knew him.



Jeff was preceded in death by his brother, Ted Fountain, Jr. (1937-2006), and is survived by his wife Pat Langley, brother Clark Fountain, ex-wife Judy Funderburk Fountain and their children, Alyssa Fountain Morris (Kelly) and Anne Fountain Rewis (Barry), and grandchildren, Emily Morris Simpson (Austin), Ryan Morris, Logan Morris, Tanner Rewis and Tate Rewis. There were no services per his request.



"Successful is the person who has lived well, laughed often and loved much, who has gained the respect of children, who leaves the world better than they found it, who has never lacked appreciation for the earth's beauty, who never fails to look for the best in others or give the best of themselves." - Ralph Waldo Emerson