Dr. Stuart B. Fountain passed away peacefully on July 31, 2024 at the age of 88 while surrounded by his loving family. The middle son of Robert Roy Fountain and Hilda Burton Fountain, he grew up on Westwood Avenue in High Point, NC. He graduated from High Point High School in 1953 as an Eagle Scout, football letterman, and President of his Senior Class. He graduated from Davidson College in 1957 where he participated in the Davidson College Choir among other activities.
In 1958, he married his high school and college sweetheart Carol Joyce Smith of High Point. They had a beautiful dance through life together for over 66 years of marriage. Dr. Fountain always gave credit to Carol for giving him the incentive, encouragement, and material support to transition from an early career in insurance to pursuing his dream of becoming a dental professional.
Dr. Fountain graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Dentistry in 1965 and was President of his Junior Class. He then went on to the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia to obtain his Master of Science in Dentistry degree with a certificate in the new specialty of endodontics.
In 1968, Dr. Fountain returned to the UNC School of Dentistry to join the faculty as the Director of the new graduate program in endodontics. At the time, he was only the second trained endodontist in North Carolina.
In 1972, Dr. Fountain came home to Guilford County to join Dr. Wayne Mohorn in the private practice of endodontics in Greensboro, where he practiced until 2001. Patients frequently commented on his caring chair-side manner and gentle relief of their pain. He was very proud that the practice has grown and is thriving over 50 years after it was founded, and is now known as Piedmont Endodontics. He continued to teach part-time at the UNC School of Dentistry for many years after founding his own practice. He also found many other ways to encourage and mentor dental professionals over the course of his long career.
Dr. Fountain always said that his life was like a 4-legged stool, with its pillars formed by his family, his dental profession, and his long standing service to NC community colleges and to Rotary International. He became a leader in all of these areas. A firm believer in community service, Dr. Fountain poured time and talent into building capacity for a range of organizations he felt served the greater good.
In his profession, he became President of the Guilford County Dental Society, a founder and first President of the Tar Heel Endodontics Association, and Chairman of the Southern Endodontic Study Club. Later he served as President of the North Carolina Dental Society, President of the American Association of Endodontists, and Vice President of the American Dental Association. He became a Fellow in the American and International Colleges of Dentistry as well as a Diplomate of the American Board of Endodontics. He was also a founder and first President of the College of Diplomates of the American Board of Endodontics.
Beyond his profession, Dr. Fountain also served ably and generously. In 1981, he was appointed to the Board of Trustees of Guilford Technical Institute, and thus began decades of service to the NC community college system that he valued as “Bootstraps U.” He was part of a team from GTI that persuaded the NC Legislature to approve GTI’s transition from a technical institute to Guilford Technical Community College in 1983. This change eventually led to all of the state’s technical institutes becoming community colleges. Dr. Fountain served as Chairman of the Board of GTCC from 1996 until 2001. In 2001, he was appointed by the Governor to be a member of the State Board of Community Colleges. He served as Chairman of the Policy Committee there for many years and became Vice Chair of the State Board near the end of his 14-year tenure. In 2015, he rotated off the State Board, completing 34 years of volunteer service to the local and state community college system. Dr. Fountain was fond of saying, “After 34 years, I finally graduated from community college!” GTCC named its Dental Science building for him in 2003, and there is a dental science scholarship in his name as well.
Also in 1981, Dr. Fountain joined the Greensboro Rotary Club and later became its President. He served as a Rotary District Governor twice. He was the cofounder and first Director of the Rotary Youth Leadership Camp at Guilford College, which enhanced leadership confidence and skills in hundreds of high school students for 37 years. Following his retirement from dentistry in 2001, he and Carol moved to Asheboro where he joined the Randolph Rotary Club. There he led the campaign for Rotary Field at the recently opened Asheboro/Randolph Sportsplex. He also served on the Asheboro City Council 2009-2011. In addition, he and Carol supported a range of organizations designed to protect the outdoor beauty they both cherished, including the Piedmont Land Conservancy and Bald Head Island Conservancy.
For his significant contributions and exemplary service at the state and local level, Dr. Fountain was recognized with North Carolina’s prestigious Order of the Long Leaf Pine award in 2014.
Dr. Fountain deeply loved and was very proud of his family, both immediate and extended. We will dearly miss his hearty laugh, knowing smile, sound advice and joyful conversations, often enjoyed while cranking homemade ice cream. Always the teacher, he loved instructing the younger generation on how to ride a bicycle; drive a tractor, a truck or a car; paddle a whitewater raft, canoe or kayak; hike up mountains; and navigate college and career decisions. A gifted mentor and listener, he helped many people in his orbit grow and develop. Nieces and nephews, neighbors and friends, professional colleagues, fellow community servants, and others credited him with enhancing their lives through generous encouragement and counsel. He and Carol loved to learn, and to marvel at the world’s beauties. They traveled to 49 states and multiple foreign countries, hiking, biking, sailing, canoeing, and otherwise exploring wonders. They especially enjoyed time with family at Bald Head Island, NC and Lake Willoughby, Vermont. A proud alumnus of the Davidson College Choir, Dr. Fountain sang in multiple church choirs for decades, and relished live music both as performer and as listener.
Dr. Fountain was preceded in death by his parents Robert Roy Fountain and Hilda Burton Fountain, and sister Eleanor (“Happy”) Fountain Halliburton. He is survived by his beloved wife Carol Smith Fountain, brothers RADM Robert R. Fountain, Jr. (USN Ret.) and John N. (“Nick”) Fountain; daughter Kathryn Fountain Newfont (Dann), son David Burton Fountain (Lucy), son Timothy Stuart Fountain (Sarah), and 8 “wonderful” grandchildren who kept him “young at heart”: Destin and Riah Newfont; Mary Stuart, Caroline and Margaret Fountain; and Grayson, Chandler and Sam Fountain.
A memorial service celebrating Dr. Fountain’s life will be held on Saturday, October 5, 2024 at 11:00 AM at Jamestown United Methodist Church in Jamestown, NC. In lieu of flowers, Dr. Fountain requested that contributions be made to the UNC-CH School of Dentistry (Dr. Stuart B. Fountain Fund for Endodontic Excellence), Guilford Technical Community College (Dr. Stuart and Carol Fountain Dental Education Fund), Rotary International Fund or another charitable organization of the donor’s preference.
The family would particularly like to thank the talented nursing staffs at the Pennybyrn retirement community, Wake Forest Baptist Hospital Cancer Center, High Point Regional Hospital, and Hospice of the Piedmont for their tender, skilled care of Dr. Fountain during the last 3 weeks of his life.
Well done, good and faithful servant. Very well done indeed.