James Allison Farley
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James "Jim" Allison Farley, devoted husband and father, a lifelong fisherman and a brilliant businessman who grew one of Oregon's most venerated nurseries from scratch in the Willamette Valley, died June 14. He was 75.
Jim passed away in a place he loved all his life, the Oregon Coast. He'd just reached his limit of razor clams, and was surrounded by childhood friends and his wife of 50 years, Bev.
Jim studied at the University of Hawaii and pursued economics and management courses, even taking a course taught by a protege of Milton Friedman. He found work at Oregon Bulb Farms where he rose through the ranks in a transformative time for cross-breeding new varieties of lilies. He and Bev used hard-earned savings to start their own mail-order lily business out of their garage, which led to the couple's purchase of their first farm in Troutdale. A field of arborvitae the couple planted by hand became Fairdale Nursery in December 1979.
His ethos was one of quality over quantity, the reputation of its nursery stock reaching the landscapes of far flung corners of North America.
As their work and businesses grew to dozens of employees and hundreds of acres, the couple had three sons, Mark, Adam and Joshua. Today the business, Countryside Nursery, continues to thrive, with son Adam at the helm.
Jim loved water, and boats of all kinds, from small craft to aircraft carriers. But of his life's hobbies, fishing trumped all. "Lucky Jim" angled the rivers and oceans of the Earth, developing what many saw was an ability to commune with fish, from the windswept hills of Ushuaia on the tip of South America to Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
An opinionated and patriotic American, he was above all a generous and compassionate man always quick to lend a hand to those in need.
A celebration of life is planned for 2 p.m. July 6 at the Barn at Countryside, 15243 NE Countryside Drive, Aurora, Oregon. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the American Heart Association and Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.