Frank L. Farrar
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Britton, SD: The funeral service for Frank L. Farrar, the former Governor of South Dakota, will be 11:00 a.m. Saturday, November 13, 2021 at the Amacher Auditorium of Britton-Hecla High School. Rev. Terry Sletto will officiate. Interment with military honors will be in the Britton Cemetery. A recording of the service will be available on Monday, November 15 at www.pricefuneralchapel.net
Visitation will be from 3:00-6:00 p.m. Friday at the Price Funeral Chapel of Britton.
Frank passed away early Sunday morning, October 31, 2021, at the Mayo Clinic Hospital, Rochester, Minnesota, surrounded by his family. He was ninety-two years old. It was six years ago to the day, on October 31, 2015, that his wife of sixty-two years, former First Lady Patricia Farrar, passed away.
Frank LeRoy Farrar was born April 2, 1929, in Britton, South Dakota, the youngest child of Virgil W. Farrar and Venetia (Taylor) Farrar. Frank grew up in Britton, where he became an Eagle Scout and was elected student body president of Britton High School. He graduated in 1947.
He attended the University of South Dakota, where he was also elected student body president, and graduated in 1951 with a B.S. in Business. He received his law degree from the USD School of Law in 1953.
Frank married Patricia Jean "Pat" Henley of Claremont, South Dakota, June 5, 1953, at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he was serving as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. The couple moved to Seattle, Washington, in 1955, where Frank worked as an Internal Revenue Service estate and gift tax examiner, then returned to Britton, where he established a law practice and served as a County Judge in 1957 and State's Attorney in 1958.
At the age of 33, Frank was elected the South Dakota's 22nd Attorney General, the youngest in the state's history, and served three two-year terms, from 1963 to 1968, during which he focused on the enforcement of insurance, banking, and securities laws and on reducing drug-related crime.
At the age of 39, he was elected South Dakota's 24th Governor and served one two-year term, from 1968 to 1971. Among other initiatives, he worked to improve consumer protection, modernize the state's banking and insurance laws, increase state aid for education, and promote economic development.
After leaving office, he returned to his law practice and became a successful businessman in banking, finance, insurance, and farming. But he remained interested in politics and public service, over the years becoming a senior statesman in the state Republican party and a philanthropist, whose work included serving as the State Chairman of the March of Dimes, serving as director of the South Dakota Foundation, co-founding the Britton Area Foundation, and continuing to attract new businesses to South Dakota.
He also doubled down on his life-long commitment to exercise - this despite two significant health challenges: One was the devastating knee injury he'd suffered at the age of 15 while playing high school football. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic saved his leg from amputation in what he was told would be a "temporary repair." Over the next seven decades, Frank logged thousands of running miles on that "temporary" repair until his long overdue knee replacement at the age of 87.
The other challenge came when he was 62 years old and diagnosed with advanced non-Hodgkin lymphoma. During what proved to be his successful cancer treatment, he continued to do short-course triathlons and went on to do his first full Ironman Triathlon at the age of 65, a race he continued to qualify for and participate in until he was 79 years old. Both he and Pat were regular participants in the South Dakota and National Senior Games, also known as the Senior Olympics. In the 2016 National Senior Games, Frank set a world record for his age group in the 100-meter backstroke. He remained cancer-free until his death.
In more than just exercise, Frank Farrar was an iron man. His was, as he once said, a spectacular life.
Frank was preceded in death by his parents; his sisters, Venetia "Bonnie" Soule (Farrar) Tomlin and Irma Jean (Farrar) Blean, and his brother, Virgil Max Farrar; and his beloved wife of sixty-two years, Pat.
Frank is survived by his sister, Lois Joyce (Farrar) Smail; his five children, Jeanne Farrar of Minneapolis, Sally Farrar of Arkansaw, Wisconsin, Robert Farrar of Golden Valley, Minnesota, Mary Turner (Randall Turner) of Pierre, South Dakota, and Anne Farrar (John Ingwalson) of St. Paul, Minnesota; his eight grandchildren, Samuel Farrar Orfield, William Farrar Orfield, Arthur Turner, Reid Turner, Frank Turner (Jasmine Fosheim), Emma Ingwalson, Alexander Ingwalson, and Paige Ingwalson; and his two great-grandchildren, Garett Turner and Josie Turner.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorials in honor of Frank be sent to: The Britton Area Foundation, P.O Box 415, Britton SD 57430; The South Dakota Community Foundation, P.O. 296, Pierre SD 57501; Mayo Clinic - Department of Development, 208 First St. SW, Rochester, MN 55905; The American Cancer Society; or The Salvation Army.
Condolences may be directed to the Farrar Family, in care of the Office of Frank Farrar, Box 1029, Britton, SD 57430.
An online guestbook and obituary are available at www.pricefuneralchapel.net.