Donna Marie Fairchild

Donna Marie Fairchild died January 25, 2011 in Mesquite, Nevada. She was born April 14, 1958, to Brandt C. and Barbara Gonder in Munich, Germany. Her father was in the U.S. Air Force, which led the famiy to live in Delaware, Izmir, Turkey, and ultimately Denver. Donna graduated from George Washington High School in 1976 and attended the University of Denver becoming a news reporter for radio stations KIMN and KYGO. She also served as an emergency medical technician and paramedic. She graduated from the Denver Police Academy, then served with the Denver Police Department. She married fellow Denver police officer, Bill Fairchild in 1988. Donna and Bill Fairchild retired from the Denver Police Department in 1999 and moved to Mesquite, Nevada the same year. In 2001, she was selected to fill a vacancy on the Mesquite City Council and was re-elected to a four-year term in 2003. In 2007, she chose not to run for re-election, but ran again in 2009 and was elected to another four-year term. In 2010, she officially announced she was running for mayor of Mesquite. In 2009, she helped coordinate the Any Soldier Project in Mesquite, which collected and sent items to soldiers stationed overseas. She is survived by her mother, Barbara Gonder; uncle, Robert S. Gonder of Denver; aunt, Florence Hepfer of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania; and several cousins. Memorials may be made in Donna's name to Wells Fargo Bank c/o Mesquite Any Soldiers Project. Please share your memories of Donna and condolences with her family by signing the Guestbook below.