Visitation and Memorial Service will take place Friday, August 29 at King Street Church in Chambersburg. For more information, please reference the obituary linked to the right.
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Shippensburg University Athletics mourns the loss of
Art Fairchild, a former coach and professor. SU extends its condolences to his family and friends.
At the time of his retirement from coaching in 1995, Fairchild had recorded the most wins of any head baseball coach in the history of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). Thirty years later, he is still among the league's Top 5 career wins leaders – slotting fifth.
Fairchild compiled a career record of 662-360-8 in his 29-year tenure (1966-86, 1988-95). The Raiders won 20 or more games in 18 seasons under Fairchild's direction, and 30 or more games in 11 seasons.
From 1969-89, SU Baseball did not have a losing season.
His teams qualified for the PSAC Tournament 16 times and won five conference championships (1977, 1981, 1984, 1986, 1989). SU competed 12 times in the NCAA Division II Baseball National Championships: winning regional titles in 1977 and 1991.
Among the hundreds of players he mentored include more than 30 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Americans and more than 15 individuals who signed professional contracts with Major League Baseball (MLB) teams.
On April 29, 1995, the Raiders' home field was named the G. Arthur Fairchild Field in his honor. Located on the north side of campus, it has been the home of Raider baseball since 1973.
Fairchild also spent several seasons as an assistant football coach at Shippensburg upon his arrival to campus in the 1960s. He graduated from Maryville College in Tennessee and earned his master's degree at Indiana University.
Prior to his arrival at Shippensburg, Fairchild was an instructor and coach at Georgetown College in Kentucky.
In 2002, he retired from his role as a professor in Shippensburg's health and physical education department.
If anyone wishes to pass along a memory or a reflection, we will gladly post them to this story when we are able to do so. Please e-mail sid@ship.edu for any comments you wish to provide, along with your name so that it can be attributed to the text.
Fort Collins
Colorado
28 August 2025
I was not a baseball player but I did get to know coach Fairchild quite well. I began my studies and Track and Field competition at Shippensburg in the Fall of 1965. I was 18- coach was fairly new in his early 20s.
The NCAA's new ruling allowed this incoming class the opportunity to be eligible to letter for four years. Many of us did by the time we graduated in May 1969. I recall coach Fairchild as one of the prime movers to establish a Varsity Club. In the Spring of 1969, coach was instrumental in acquiring wrist watches for all 4 year lettermen. I gave mine to my father.
Apart from various Varsity Club activities our favorite was trekking to a restaurant that periodically offered All You Can Eat fish frys in Harrisburg. We did not have an athletic "training table" until 1968 and all you could eat for $1.75 or so was welcomed. I recall the restaurant people were taken whenever we came through the door to consume a large take from the Atlantic Ocean.
I was told- and it was collaborated- that coach Fairchild once told a young team manager to run up to Heiges and bring back cups for the catchers. He came back with a large stack of drinking cups.
My best to his family.
- Stephen Schell "69" (78 yrs)
When I was the head baseball coach at D3 Hamilton College in upstate NY, we traveled south during Spring Break of 1974.
We started at D1 Davidson college in NC, then D2 Catawba, then started back north thru Randolph Macon in Va., then in Pa. at my hometown of Carlisle with D3 Dickinson College and then D2 SHIP. Except we rained out at Ship. Big Art invited us to practice in (the new 2 yr old) Heiges Field House. Wow, coming from our tiny, ancient gym at Hamilton College we were in Heaven: indoor batting cages, portable pitching mounds and complete infield setup. Little could I imagine that one year later in fall of 1975, I'd have an office in that same Heiges FH.
- Steve Heckler, SU director of Sports Medicine from 1975-2002
