James Conway Farley

COLUMBIA Connie, Jim, J.C., Dad, Paw Paw, Christian, Husband, Father, Grandfather, Great-grandfather, Builder, Engineer, Friend, Good Samaritan among other descriptions passed to his Master's arms on Tuesday, September 23, 2014. He was 89 years old. His life was lived at full throttle knowing that his God was with him in all endeavors. Born in a lumber camp in Sweetens Cove, TN on June 28, 1925, the 6th of 7 children of the late Minnie Belle Dean Brown Farley and John William Farley and raised on several farms in middle Tennessee during the great depression, he understood the meaning of opportunity. Joining the U.S. Navy on his 18th birthday he was planning on flight school. The Navy sent him to the University of South Carolina for OCS for a year and on to Notre Dame for six months before he received his commission as an Ensign in the U.S. Navy. While at USC he asked his chemistry lab assistant for a date and she accepted. His beloved Jane Gaston Ketchen became his life mate. After WWII ended they married on April 6, 1946, and started a life of 68 years together that unfolded in many chapters all over the U.S. James C. Farley, Jr. (Jan) Charlotte, N.C. was born in January 1947 and seven more children were to follow over the next 12 years. Susan Jane Larson (George) Santa Barbara, CA, Mary Ellen Nevins (Bill) Atlanta, GA, Barbara Ann Bockman (Sam) Melbourne, FL, Margaret Dean Todd (George) Columbia, John Walker Farley (Myra) Chapin, Richard Lee Farley (Cindy) Charlotte, N.C., Frank William Farley (Kim) Malabar, FL and joining the family in 1982 a beloved sister and daughter, Kathe Lester Hall (Todd) Jasper, GA. He returned to USC and completed his B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1948. He then began a career that was as varied as his family was large. He began working in Nashville, TN and was recalled for the Korean War effort and spent four more years on active duty in California and Virginia. The family returned to Columbia and he started a house building business and teaching engineering at USC. He continued building custom homes and later started teaching at Richland (now Midlands) Tech, eventually becoming Chair of the Engineering Division. He left Tech in 1974 to start a commercial construction business focused on design build of high school and college stadiums. He had a following all over the Southeast, especially in the western N.C. Mountains. More importantly, he and Jane built a family that built families; his children and their children and their accomplishments were his own greatest accomplishment and the only thing he ever bragged about. There are over 100 – too many grandchildren and great-grandchildren to list. We cannot say enough about his love of his Gamecocks - a rabid fan in good and bad years. In the before Spurrier years when die-hard fans were scarce, he was in his seat no matter how one-sided the score or horrible the weather. His heart and gratitude for his blessings were shared with anyone he thought needed help or comfort. Whether it was some soldiers visiting church, someone walking on the highway or broken down, he never failed to offer them a meal or a ride or help. We will celebrate his life and his life to come at 11:00 a.m. Friday, September 26, 2014 at Long Creek Church of Christ, 720 Longtown Road, Columbia, SC 29229. Burial with military honors will follow in Elmwood Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 6 until 8:00 p.m. Thursday, September 25, 2014, at Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Long Creek Church of Christ, 720 Longtown Road, Columbia, SC 29229 or Southeastern Children's Home, P.O. Box 339, Duncan, SC 29334.