Kay Berryman Fairbanks

Kay Berryman Fairbanks was a devoted wife and loving mother of three children that went home to be with her Lord and Savior on Sunday, April 13, 2008. She is preceded in death by her parents, Verna and Dale Berryman and her oldest brother Jack. She is survived by her husband of 46 years, Branson Fairbanks and three children, Shelley Renee Fairbanks of Westwego, Louisiana, Gregory Brandon Fairbanks of Los Angles, California, and Kristi Michelle Fairbanks of Pearland, Texas. She is survived by two sisters of Sand Springs, Oklahoma Yvonne Cox, and Sherry Lynn Collins. Three brothers, Duane Berryman of Moore, Oklahoma, Loy Berryman of Cleveland, Oklahoma and Robert Dale "Bob" Berryman of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Kay was a devoted Christian and lifelong member of the Southern Baptist Church. Her greatest accomplishment was seeing her three children saved and baptized into the Baptist Church.

The fifth of seven children born to Horance Dale Berryman and Verna Lee Rogers on December 30, 1941 at Keystone, Oklahoma. Sharon Kay Berryman attended elementary school at Terlton, Oklahoma. She was baptized and joined the First Baptist Church in Terlton. Her family moved to Cleveland, Oklahoma and she graduated from Cleveland High School in May 1959.

After graduating from Cleveland High School in May 1959, Kay lived at home and worked first as a clerk in a variety store in Cleveland and then as a seamstress at Munsingwear in Hominy. On September 9, 1961 Kay married her high school sweetheart, Branson Fairbanks in the First Baptist Church, Cleveland. The Reverend Joe W. Howard, pastor, officiated and Kay's mother Verna Berryman, Kathy Horton, Branson's cousin, and his parents were present. Kay and Branson moved into Apartment 32A, University Courts, stillwater, Oklahoma while Branson finished his last semester to earn a Bachelor of Science degree.

Kay lived with a friend from Tennessee in Newport, Rode Island and worked as a maid to pay for her room and board while Branson lived in barracks on the Naval Base attending OCS. Kay stayed with her parents in Cleveland while Branson went to the Philippines to join his ship. When the ship returned to home port Kay joined Branson and they rented an apartment on 2nd street in Long Beach. Her first child, Shelley Renee, was born in St Mary's hospital, Long Beach, California on May 21, 1963. This is the same birthdate as Branson. Kay's oldest brother Jack was serving on a Destroyer, USS Cogswell, homeported in San Diego, California and he visited frequently and spent nights at her apartment. Jack owned a new Lincoln Contintenal convertible and he took Kay and Shelley home from the hospital. Kay's oldest sister Yvonne and her husband visited in Long Beach. On August 14, 1964 Kay and Shelley rode an airplane to Oklahoma and they stayed with her parents on the farm in Cleveland while Branson deployed to West Pac.

Kay was a devoted mother that was often left to raise her children alone while Branson served on deployed ships. She moved throughout the country following her husband during his thirty one-year naval career and lived at 24 different addresses.

On March 12, 1994 the family moved to New Iberia, Louisiana and Branson was ordered to the Naval Auxiliary Air Station. In August the NAAS was closed and Branson was moved to the Naval Air, Corpus Christi, Texas and her second child, Gregory Brandon, was born on December 29, 1964 at the Naval Hospital. Since Shelley was born on her dad's birthday, Kay told the doctor she wanted to wait until midnight so Gregory would be born on her birthday. She couldn't wait and just before midnight on December 29 Greg was born.

In November 1966 the family moved into navy housing at Little Creek, Virginia and Branson reported to the USS Hermitage as the navigator. Kay was alone with two kids while Branson made deployments to the Caribbean and Vietnam for several months. When the ship returned from Vietnam, Branson left active duty and started to work for Campbell Soup in Paris, Texas. After one year, Branson returned to active duty and the family moved into a house in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. In February 1971, the family moved to Norfolk, Virginia and Branson was the Operations Officer on the USS Waccamaw. Kay's third child, Kristi Michelle, was born in the Navy Hospital, Portsmouth, Va. on March 28, 1971. She had severe problems with the birth and cencerian section was required. Kay's mother came to Norfolk and stayed with Kay after the birth. Kay got a Siamese cat she named taffy that Kristi played with when she was a kitten. Kay fell from a ladder while trimming a tree in the front yard and broke several bones. Branson was deployed and his sister Linda came and took care of the kids while Kay was in the Portsmouth Naval Hospital. She wore a body cast on her upper torso and left arm for several weeks.

The family lived in a subdivision of South Pine Point, West of the Ashley in Charleston. The next door neighbors named Igo gave the kids a dog they named Brandy. He was part Husky and mixed breed. .

Branson was assigned to the USS Mauna Kea home ported in Concord, Ca. They purchased 219 Dundee Way, Benicia, California with a great view of the Carquinez Straight on the north end of San Francisco Bay. Kay would stand in the back yard with the kids and watch the ship go down the straights to the ocean. Branson would flash the signal light so they would know he was looking at them in the yard. On October 14, 1976 Kay's oldest brother Jack died. Kay and Branson attended his funeral in Long Beach, he lived in Cerritos at the time of his death. Kay's mother Verna came home with Kay after the funeral and showed her around San Francisco, including a tour of Fisherman's Warf, boat tour under the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island.

In November 1977 Branson was transferred to New Orleans, Louisiana. The family bought a house in Gretna, Louisiana that took two months to close so Kay and the kids stayed with her mother in Cleveland, Oklahoma until we could move into the house on Lamar Avenue.

In july 1983 the family moved to Manchester, Missouri from New Orleans. Brandy the dog died on January 24, 1984 while Kay held him in her arms in the basement of the house. They sold thier house in St. Louis and moved to Orange Park, Florida in August 1985. On Nov. 28 1986 Taffy the cat died. Gregory graduated from the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Kay and her mother pinned his sholder boards on and Branson gave him his commissioning oath at Peterson Air Force Base. On June 30, 1988 the couple sold thier house on Scoutridge Court, Orange Park, Fl. And moved to Columbus, Ohio.

On June 11, 1991 the family moved to Houston, Texas. Branson was assigned as Commanding Officer, Naval & Marine Corps Reserve Readiness Center, Houston. In September 1993 Branson retired from the Navy and started teaching NJROTC at Ross S. Sterling High School in Houston. Kay's mother Verna Berryman died on December 10, 1995 and she was buried adjacent to Kay's father Dale in the Cleveland, Oklahoma cemetery. Kay was in Tulsa with her mother when she died. Kay was always close to her mother and called her weekly for many years. This was a very difficult time for Kay.

Kay was diagnosed with liver cancer in June 17, 2003. Her cancer was treated at M D Anderson Hospital in Houston and on April 25, 2004 Kay had a liver transplant at Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houston, Texas.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 pm, Friday, April 18, 2008 at the Western Heights Baptist Church in Cleveland with Rev. David Head officiating. Burial will be at the Woodland Cemetery under the direction of the Chapman-Black Funeral Home.