Zula Faye Fugate (83), known by friends and family as Faye, of Lexington, Kentucky passed away during the afternoon hours of Wednesday, May 29, 2024 following a brief illness.
Faye was born on August 3, 1940 in Jackson, Kentucky. She attended high school at Breathitt County High School. Faye completed the first two years of her undergraduate education at Lee’s Junior College and the final two years at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU). She graduated from EKU with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education in 1962. She went on to complete her graduate program at Miami University where she obtained a Master of Arts in School Psychology.
Following her education, Faye spent 20 years in Springboro, Ohio where she worked for the Lebanon County school system as a teacher and student counselor. In the 1980s, she transferred back to Jackson, Kentucky to work for the state of Kentucky as a clinical psychologist serving Central and Eastern Kentucky. During her many years working for the state, Faye performed psychological testing and counseling services to primary school children aged kindergarten through twelfth grade.
Above all, Faye’s passion for living was centered around her family. In her free time, she enjoyed playing card games and attending Keeneland to watch thoroughbred races. Faye was also an accomplished artist who specialized largely in oil paintings. She often traveled throughout the country to showcase her art and worked at various art shows and fairs along the East Coast.
Faye is preceded in death by her parents, Kermit and Nannie Fraley Howard of Jackson, Kentucky; her husband, Ben Fugate of Hazard, Kentucky; her brother-in-law, Don Stacy of South Carolina; her aunt, Lillie Fraley Bard of Jackson, Kentucky; and her nephew, Donald Lee Stacy of Phoenix, Arizona.
She is survived by her son, Bob (Kimra Harper) Cole of Lexington, Kentucky; two grandchildren, Alec (Ciara) and Ashton (Michael) Cole of Lexington, Kentucky; three sisters, Corine (Don) Stacy, Karen (Oddis) Clemons, and Donna (Eugene) Turner; one brother, Wallace (Patty) Howard; six nieces, Kim Szajka, Stacey Newsom, Gina Lakes, Nanette Hub, Heather Cooksey, and Wendy Rice; and one nephew, Daniel Howard.
Faye’s family would like to extend special thanks to her longtime caregiver, Janet Rice, and her neighbors, Bob and Helen Flowers, for the care and friendship they provided to Faye during the last years of her life.
A visitation will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, June 3, 2024 at Deaton Funeral Home Chapel in Jackson, Kentucky. The visitation will be immediately followed by a funeral service with Pastor Jeff Fugate officiating. A burial service will be held at Jackson Cemetery following the funeral service.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may go to Bluegrass Care Navigators (Hospice Lexington, Kentucky). Donations can be made online at www.bgcarenav.org/give.
