James Henry Fair, Jr.

James Henry Fair, Jr., 96, of Charleston, South Carolina, husband of Mollie Curtis Fair, passed away on Friday, October 9, 2026. A Memorial Service will be held Tuesday, October 13, 2026 in The Chapel at Bishop Gadsden at 11:00 am. Interment in Christ Church Cemetery in Mount Pleasant will take place at a later date. Arrangements by J. Henry Stuhr, Inc. Downtown Chapel.

Henry grew up in Columbia, SC, a town he loved dearly as a tenth generation descendant of one of its early founders, Colonel Thomas Taylor, a prominent patriot in the Revolution. Henry was born in Beverly, Mass. on August 23, 1930 since his mother understandably preferred to spend August at her mother’s home in nearby Manchester-by-the-Sea. Her mother was Susan Ames Taylor, daughter of Oliver Ames, Jr., governor of Massachusetts 1887- 90. Henry was often teased that his Southern heritage was tinged with Yankee blood. He and his sister Susan adored their many summers at their grandparents’ summer home on Singing Beach in Manchester. Henry is predeceased by his parents, James Henry Fair and Ray Taylor Fair, by his sister, Susan Fair Boyd, all of Columbia, by his first wife Martha Hayes Martin, by his second wife, Florrie Stevens Fair, and their daughter, Florence Burney Fair, both of Charleston.

Following ninth grade at Dreher High School in Columbia Henry transferred to Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va., graduating in 1948. Already his mischievous nature was brewing, developing more as he moved on to Georgia Tech and the Navy. At Tech he was a member of the SAE fraternity and graduated in 1952 with a major in industrial engineering - and a minor in SAE. Having enrolled in Naval ROTC he immediately entered the Navy, serving for three years during the Korean War. One of his memorable and unlikely responsibilities was as ship’s chaplain. Completing his service as a Lieutenant JG, he became a full lieutenant after serving in the reserve. In 1956 Henry moved to Charleston to work with the Pre-Stress Concrete Company. A few year later he began building houses with Max Hill and in 1970 joined James Holcombe, MAI, to form the commercial real estate company, Holcombe and Fair. Henry soon earned his own MAI certification and eventually became president of the SC Chapter of the American Institute of Real Estate Appraisers. For over thirty years Henry and Jimmy were esteemed partners in numerous commercial real estate ventures. They were also both masters of dry humor and wit, whether in business, on a sailboat, in the dove field or at the back bar at the Carolina Yacht Club.

In 1954 Henry married Martha Hayes of Dawson, Georgia, with whom he had one son, James Edward (Edd) Fair. In 1957 Henry married Florrie Henderson Stevens of Columbia with whom he had two sons, James Henry Fair III and Thomas Taylor Fair, and a daughter, Florence Burney Fair. In 1989 Florrie Fair died of heart failure, soon followed by their daughter Burney’s death of the same issue in 1995. In 1991 Henry married Mollie Curtis Ravenel of Charleston.

An early real estate project he most enjoyed was the relocation of the Downtown Athletic Club. In 1972 when the College of Charleston took over the YMCA building on George Street Henry was asked to take on the job of finding a new location for the club’s racquetball court. Never comfortable with big committees Henry secured support of the board to take on the project with a small group of ten initial funders. They soon located a new facility, oversaw construction of a new court and Henry became first president of the newly formed Downtown Athletic Club. He was very proud of that project and loved his many years playing racquetball at the DAC. He was also proud to have served on the board of the South Carolina Heritage Trust, where he felt that his background as a real estate appraiser was a valuable contribution.

Among the most challenging ventures undertaken by Holcombe and Fair was a foray into residential real estate with the conversion of the Fort Sumter Hotel into The Fort Sumter House in 1976. This was the first offering of multi-story condominiums locally and Charlestonians were agonizingly slow to adopt the concept. Holcombe and Fair quickly returned to commercial real estate and in a few years following the addition of Charles Lane the firm became Holcombe Fair and Lane, as it is known today.

Unquestionably the definitive real estate purchase of Henry Fair’s life was that of Bluff Plantation with three partners in 1976. For the next fifty years management of this plantation on the Combahee River and later its solely-owned offshoot, Rose Hill Plantation, was the ruling feature of his life, bringing great joy to himself, his family and friends. A passionate hunter of ducks, deer, doves and turkeys Henry lived by the call of this land and its seasons and inspired many offspring and hunting buddies to do likewise. He was also defined by his deep love for his hunting dogs: his previous five Boykin spaniels and his current English cocker, Chessie. He took great pride in being a founding member of the Quality Deer Management Association, led by his dear hunting companion, Joe Hamilton. He is equally proud to be among the earliest supporters of the conservation of the ACE Basin and among the first landowners there to put his plantation under a conservation easement. “What I stand for is where I stand.” These words of the late author Wendell Berry apply perfectly to Henry Fair at Rose Hill.

Naturally Henry’s philanthropy has mainly focused on conservation issues and organizations. More recently, however, he was instrumental in funding the facility at MUSC known as the Henry and Mollie Fair Neurology Clinic. Henry was deeply moved and inspired by witnessing a lovely friend’s decline due to Alzheimer’s and funded the clinic in her honor.

Second only to his love of hunting came golf, especially his bi-weekly games at the Country Club of Charleston organized by his friend Scott Hood. He and Scott also enjoyed golf at summer homes at Burlingame Country Club in Sapphire, North Carolina. His courtship of Mollie took place on the golf course and their shared love of the game overcame their rich assortment of differences.

Henry is survived by his wife, Mollie Curtis Fair, his three sons James Edward Fair (Carol), Thomas Taylor Fair and James Henry Fair III, his former daughters-in-law, Elizabeth Christian Fair and Iris Vogel, his nephew Taylor Fair Boyd, and his step-children, Curtis deStJulien Ravenel (Mallory), Tiphaine Ravenel Bonetti (Paolo), and Ramsay Michel Ravenel (Rebecca.) He is also survived by five grandchildren: Lauren Ray Fair, Sarah Grace Fair, Katherine Taylor Fair, Douglas Hayes Fair, and Edward Stockton Fair. In addition he is survived by eight step-grandchildren: Giacomo Ramsay Bonetti, Isobel Soubeyroux Ravenel Bonetti, Mario duFort Bonetti, Charles Oscar Thorne Ravenel, Nexsen Grey Ravenel, Silas Isidor Straus Ravenel, Nathan Hill Ravenel, and Charles duFort Straus Ravenel.

In lieu of flowers please consider a memorial gift to either of these charities he was actively supporting. The first addresses the threat of data centers to his beloved SC lowcountry, and the second is research into macular degeneration which deprived him and his sister of sight:

The Coastal Expeditions Foundation,
Attn: South Carolina Data Center Initiative
514-B Mill Street
Mount Pleasant, SC 29464

or

“The Retinal Research Fund at The Storm Eye Institute”
c/o MUSC Foundation
18 Bee Street, MSC 450
Charleston, SC 29425