Howard Lee Farris

Born March 26, 1940 in Montebello, he was the son of the late Norman Lee and Rachel Campbell Farris and was also preceded in death by his beloved granddaughter, Bronwyn Farris and his sister, Carol Goodman. Howard graduated from E.C. Glass High School in 1958. Shortly after, he followed in his father’s footsteps and joined Local 10 Plumbers and Pipefitters Union, out of Richmond. For the next 25 years, he worked countless hours all over the country, most of the time on jobs that required working 7 days a week. At the time of his passing, he was the oldest living member of Local 10.

Once he got tired of being away from his family for months at a time, he came home and took a job with Commercial Steel Erection in Madison Heights, where he worked his most memorable times in construction, making many friendships that he talked about until his last days. After that, he worked and retired working for his son at R.L. Farris Iron Erectors, Inc. At age 62, Howard bought a camper and traveled to State Parks all over Virginia, until finding Douthat State Park in Alleghany County that he fell in love with and for 8 years, he spent 2 months in the spring and 2 months in the fall camp hosting. He loved meeting new people and especially old retired fishermen telling lies. The people at Douthat were like a second family. Howard loved trout fishing and while at Douthat, he was certified as a Master Trout Fisherman for catching over 10 Citation Brook Trout.

In addition to his wife, Howard is survived by his son, Rickey L. Farris and his wife Debbie; his daughter, Faith Nixon and her husband Michael; his two grandsons, Ethan Nixon and Scott Nixon and his wife Erin and his great-granddaughter, Ellie; his sister, Phyllis Cash and her husband Jimmy, as well as many brothers and sisters-in-law, nieces, and nephews.

A funeral service will be conducted at 1:00 p.m., Monday, February 8, 2016 at the Altavista Church of God of Prophecy with the Rev. Witt Mayton, the Rev. Jim Critchley, and the Rev. Wayne Murphy officiating. Interment will follow at Virginia Memorial Park in Forest.

The family will receive friends from 3-5 p.m., Sunday, February 7, 2016 at Whitten Timberlake Chapel and other times at the residence.

Those wishing to make memorial contributions are asked to consider Centra Hospice, 2097 Langhorne Road, Lynchburg, VA 24501.

To send online condolences to the family, please visit www.whittentimberlake .com.