Norman Fajans
HALIFAX- Norman Douglas Fajans, 69, died peacefully on February 25 after his brief battle with cancer.
Mr. Fajans was born on September 28, 1951, in Amityville, NY, to Wayne Douglas Fajans and Elizabeth “Betty” Fajans. He graduated from Wilmington High School in 1969 and attended SUNY Cobleskill and then the University of Vermont, where he graduated with a degree in animal science in 1973. He married Deborah MacMillan in 1985 and they moved to Greenfield, NH.
Mr. Fajans was a great family man and a loving father. Together the couple happily had a daughter, Erin Elizabeth, and he set about teaching her a love of country life, family, and her many animals. His daughter remembers him as a compassionate, gentle, and patient father who encouraged her to pursue her goals.
In New Hampshire, he attended massage therapy school and began a lifelong career as an equine massage therapist. Norman, Deborah, and Erin then moved back to Halifax in 1993 to be closer to the Fajans family.
He was always a social and active man with many, many friends. He was a thoughtful, kindhearted, funny, and dedicated individual who loved working his farm, walking his woods, riding a tractor, gardening, watching the seasons change, sharing a memory or story with a dear friend, cheering his daughter in school sports, watching TV football, and helping others to care for their animals. Deeply involved with horses his entire life, he enjoyed breeding and showing his family’s Morgan horses under the “Brookbound” prefix and later, continuing his family’s breeding program with his own Morgans. His horse clients and friends across New England thought of him as a generous and gifted healer of horses, skilled in improving performance and supporting recovery in national champions and rescue horses alike.
Mr. Fajans is survived by his wife Deborah Fajans; his daughter Erin Fajans; his sisters Wendy Pratt and her husband Wayne, Elizabeth “Libby” Ritthaler and her husband William, and Jean Rudolph and her husband Robert; his brother Wayne Fajans and his partner Charles Dow; and his foster sister Barbara Jacobs; as well as cousins, nieces, and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents Wayne and Elizabeth Fajans.
A socially distant celebration of Mr. Fajans’ life will be held later in the summer or early fall. In the meantime, in lieu of flowers anyone wishing to honor his life can donate to Forever Morgans Horse Rescue & Adoption at forevermorgans.org or in care of Covey Allen & Shea Funeral Home, PO Box 215, Wilmington, VT 05363. To share a memory or send condolences visit sheafuneralhomes.com.
