Dolores Frances Farrell

Dolores was born into a large working-class Irish Catholic family on the southside of Chicago. Despite her many professional achievements, she never forgot her working-class roots and spent much of her life supporting progressive causes aimed at helping working-class families prosper.

Her early education was with the Franciscan sisters of St. Francis de Paula, and in high school she studied with the Dominican sisters at Aquinas High School. She completed her education at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles, where she flourished, and where, upon graduating in 1968, she was inspired to work for someone she was convinced would advance the causes in which she ardently believed. His name was Jerry Brown, and she supported him and his goals for the rest of her life.

After several years working on two Brown campaigns, and serving both Brown administrations in various positions, Dolores entered California’s civil service. She began at the Attorney General’s office in 1983, where she initially worked with Jack Dugan (Yes!) in the Crime Prevention Center. Among countless other projects, she worked tirelessly and ultimately successfully to create the nation’s first legislatively-backed School/Law Enforcement Partnership, bridging the divide between local police agencies and schools to work together to keep students, teachers and staff safe.

In 1992 Dolores left the Attorney General’s office to work with the California Department of Boating and Waterworks, where she served for fourteen years as the Department’s manager for its Division of Education and Law Enforcement. This opened a wide array of new challenges for her, which she welcomed and used as yet another way to move towards enlightened policy and enforcement. She stayed in this position until her retirement in 2006.

Dolores made many friends in her years with Governor Brown, and later the civil service, many of whom remained life-long friends with whom she shared both her joys and her sorrows. She never married, saying that her family was the group of friends who loved and supported her as she made her way through life. Everyone who knew her knew her as a very smart and very kind person with a wonderful (sometimes very dark) sense of humor and unbreakable integrity. She will be deeply missed by everyone whose life she touched.

Dolores is survived by her older brother Daniel Farrell and her younger brother Thomas Farrell, as well as her beloved sister-in-law Linda Farrell. She was preceded in death by her parents, Dorothy and Walter, and her older brothers Walter and Robert.

A Rosary will be held on Tuesday, October 28th, at 5:30 p.m., at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Sacramento. A Mass celebrating Dolores’s life will be held on Wednesday, October 29th, at 10:00 a.m., at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Sacramento. Luncheon plans will be announced after Mass.

In lieu of flowers, tributes in honor of Dolores should be sent to any of the following charities: Wellspring Women’s Center, the Sacramento Animal Shelter, the Salvation Army.