Born: July 24, 1940
Passed Away on March 12, 2010.
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| Warren and Debbie Farlow |
He was known as a teacher, father, grandfather, track star, and friend but for me and most of my friends, we knew him as a bishop. He changed the lives of many. It was evident by those who came to his funeral for one last good-bye in March.
Some of my memories of this great man. I will try to be brief on each.
As a activities coordinator, I worked directly with him and Jack Hart on a number of activities. I remember two huge activities I had to plan. One was a dance that we brought in a live band. We had had some events that were not up to the standards of what he felt the Church would want, so one month we chose to forgo the normal D.J and bring in a live band. He had faith that it would pull off and after a bunch of stress and tears and constant phone calls to me. We pulled it off and managed to sell-out to beyond fire code safety. I remember one particular Halloween, the same pressure came from him and while I was at work, I think in one day I received 6 or 8 phone calls trying to work out the kinks and details. He pushed. But he pushed because he cared about getting the young single adults out to socialize and to have an uplifting event.
I remember one summer, the fond summer of 2004, when Doug Hunsaker (a stranger he took in for the summer) came to live with him. Doug, socially bored, ended up clicking with out group and one weekend we decided to go to the Narrows at Zions National Park. Bishop Farlow, almost came (or at least was considering it) but chose not to - but not without careful fatherly advice of possible flash floods. But he also didn't think a man of his "age" could do it. Halfway through our Narrows hike (no flash floods), Doug and I decided that we would document are adventure and market the outing for him to come the next year. We interview "old" hikers and filmed plenty of beauty shots and edited the entire piece on the way home. The was the 24th of July weekend, so by the time we returned on Sunday, we presented it to him as gift and marketing tool to get him to come with us the next time we went. It never happened, but he did like the idea of it being a ward event (which actually never happened either).
Another common tale I share of him is the hot dog dinner. During one particular meeting, I sat next to a certain Russ Buttars and while discussing going to a Dodger game and eating Dodger Dogs, Russ and I were adamant that hot dogs were reprocessed meat and never tasted good. Never to be proved wrong and always needing an excuse to BBQ, he invited us over for Sunday dinner that night, along with a few other people in the ward. He served Russ and I the best tasting hot dogs I have ever had. To this day I don't believe were hot dogs, but steak rolled up and served to us. Definitely not your childhood Oscar Meyer hot dog. He was right.
He was a man of sound council. A leader. Someone who cared about the lives of those he served. He was there for blessings, meals or a place to sleep. Along with his sweet wife. His teachings will live forever in my mind. The deepest lesson that has always returned my life is his parable of the cliff. While living a good and decent life, there is always a cliff. You are always safe on the cliff, and the close you get to the edge of it, the more dangerous it becomes. So instead of walking on the edge, just walk a few feet inside and you won't ever fall. It's not as eloquent as his lessons, but I am trying to keep this (long) tribute short.
This is in memory of Warren J. Farlow. Happy Birthday! You would have been 70 today.
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