Wilson L. “Dick” Farr

Wilson LeRoy (“Dick”) Farr died peacefully on November 17, 2020, after a short illness.  Dick was born in Freeman, Missouri, on January 2, 1926.  Dick grew up in and around Freeman, the second of six children.  As a boy growing up during the Depression, Dick worked on area farms and doing whatever he could to help support the family.  But according to the stories told by his mother, this never damped his mischievous personality.  He was an enterprising boy too.  He saved money enough to buy some baby chicks at the hatchery in Pleasant Hill, and raised them himself.  Whenever he needed money to buy something, he’d just go to town and sell a chicken.  Dick attended school at a one-room schoolhouse, and really did have to walk a mile or more through the snow to get there.  He loved to tell people that he was valedictorian of his class, and then smile and admit that there were only two people in the class, and the other fellow was the salutatorian. 

In 1944, after his graduation from Freeman High School, Dick went into the Navy.  He served during World War II on the U.S.S. Laurens, a Haskell-class attack transport operating among the islands in the Pacific.  Dick was on the Laurens from the time it was commissioned in 1944 until it was decommissioned in 1946 after the War, and always had a picture of the ship hanging in his home.  He was awarded the Victory Medal, the American Area Campaign Medal, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon (1 Bronze Star) and the Asiatic Pacific Area Campaign Medal (2 Battle Stars) for his service in the War.  He re-enlisted in the Navy Reserves after his discharge.

Not too long after he returned to Freeman, Dick met the love of his life, a girl named Mary Lou Myers.  Three years later, on June 5, 1949, the two were married at the First Baptist Church in Pleasant Hill, Missouri.  They celebrated their 71^st anniversary together this year, and theirs is a love story that continues to this day. 

In July 1950, Dick’s Reserve unit was called up for the Korean War.  In that War he served on the U.S.S. Boxer, an Essex-class aircraft carrier.  Dick wrote Mary Lou every day he was away from her, and she wrote him back.  The Boxer provided close air support for United Nations ground troops, and conducted strategic bombing raids.  Dick was awarded the Korean Service Medal (1 Battle Star) for his service on the Boxer.  He was discharged in November 1951.

Over the next decade Dick and Mary Lou had three daughters, Lou Ann, Earlene and Linda.  Dick spent lots of time with his girls playing, gardening, singing, fishing and going mushroom hunting.  The girls thought (and still think) that the sun rose and set in their Daddy.  He supported them in everything they did, and taught them that they could do anything, and be anything they wanted to be.  

Dick’s self-deprecating humor about his class rank never obscured the fact that he was an exceptionally intelligent man.  Dick spent most of his career working for Amoco Corporation (formerly Standard Oil Company (Indiana)).  He started with the company mowing the lawn at the Service Pipeline Company in Freeman.  He quickly rose to better things.  Dick worked pipeline jobs around the United States, and then was sent to head up a job building an oil pipeline in southern Argentina, where he found penguins and bad drinking water.  Because of the bad drinking water, the men had to drink wine, and this led to Dick’s lifelong appreciation of good wine.  After Argentina, Amoco sent Dick to Egypt, where he began by flying up and down the coast of the Red Sea in the company plane, and selecting the site for the first onshore Oil Production Facility in Egypt.  This time Dick was able to take Mary Lou and the girls with him.  By the time he was transferred back to the States in 1977, the family had lived in Egypt, Greece, the Netherlands and Iran, and had literally travelled all around the world.  Dick retired from Amoco in March 1984. By that time the boy from Freeman High School had men with PhDs working for him.   

Shortly after his retirement, Dick and Mary Lou moved back to Harrisonville, Missouri.  Their girls had all made their way back to the Kansas City area, and the grandchildren were starting to arrive.  Dick’s retirement was long and extremely happy.  He loved his grandchildren whole-heartedly, and spent every moment he could with them, attending every soccer, baseball and softball game, school play, and golf match.  One of their favorite memories is lying outside at dusk with Grandpa, and watching the stars pop out in the sky. 

Dick was always the man who would step up and do the difficult job, the one who could be depended on to act quickly and intelligently in an emergency, and the one whose integrity was beyond question.  He was also the most loving, faithful and supportive of men to his family and friends.

Dick was predeceased by his parents James LeRoy (“Roy”) Farr and Mary Amanda (Wilson) Farr, his brothers Bob Farr, Don Farr, and Dale Farr, and his sisters Chrystal (Farr) Hayes and Charlene (Farr) Atwater.  He is survived by his wife Mary Lou (Myers) Farr of the home, his daughters Lou Ann Johnson of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Earlene Gordon and his son-in-law Thomas Gordon of Kansas City, Linda Vaughn and his son-in-law David Vaughn of Greenwood, Missouri, his grandchildren Mary (Johnson) Wells and her husband David, Whitney (Vaughn) Gear and her husband Rob, Blake Vaughn and his wife Kelsie, and Miranda (Vaughn) Jarnevic and her husband Luke.  He also leaves eight great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews, all of whom he loved dearly.       

Shakespeare said it best:

“His life was gentle; and the elements
So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up
And say to all the world, THIS WAS A MAN!”

– William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

Celebration of Life Services for Wilson LeRoy “Dick” Farr will be Monday, November 23, 2020 at the Wallace Funeral Home in Pleasant Hill, beginning with Masonic Service at 1:00 p.m. conducted by Mr. George Barrios and Jewel Lodge #480 A.F. & A.M., the funeral service will immediately follow with Rev. Kent Deubner officiating. The final Salute will be given at the funeral home by V.F.W. Post #3118 of Pleasant Hill. Interment will be in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery with Full Military Honors by the United States Navy and V.F.W. Post #3118 Honor Guard of Pleasant Hill.  The family suggests contributions “In Memory of Wilson LeRoy “Dick” Farr” be made to V.F.W. Post #3118 of Pleasant Hill, Missouri.