Lola Jean Farrar

Lola Jean Edwards Lindsey Farrar was born in Lynn, Massachusetts on February 14, 1927 in a blizzard prematurely and was not expected to survive so she was named after her nurse, Lola. She survived and thrived for 98 years passing away on April 4, 2025 at home in Dallas, Texas, at the age of 98.

Lola graduated from John Reagan High School in Houston, Texas in 1944. Jobs needed to be filled with all the boys going off to war. Women were called to serve. She applied with the Navy in the Houston Office at the age of 17, but was told she had to be 18 for Civilian Service. While working at a YWCA Camp, not too far from Galveston Island, the Navy called her to go to work as a Messenger because the boy who had that job had been called to serve. She was too young for the WAVES but wanted to contribute to the military effort during WWII. Little did she know that would become her future career. Being a timid girl, she was encouraged by the Admiral of the Houston Office to consider being Career Navy. She worked her way up the ladder. The Navy Office in Houston sponsored parties every weekend for the boys who came into the port when their ships needed refittings. She was also active at the time in a YWCA group of girls called the "Live Y'ers" sponsored by the YWCA (50 or so) and they had dances on the roof garden of the YWCA all during WWII. She met boys from all branches of service and they loved to dance and so did she. She danced all through the war, memories she fondly remembered. She never forgot the Admiral's encouragement and she quickly worked her way up getting promotions. She met her future husband, John Lindsey, at a dance and they corresponded frequently and later married in 1950. She was asked to transfer to Dallas to set up the Dallas Office. She was unfamiliar with Dallas and the shortage of housing in Dallas at that time. Finally tract homes were being built for all the GI's returning from WWII and there she remained in her house for 40+ years. Lola and John had one child only, Loretta Lindsey.

Lola completed her college education with a bachelor's degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas while attending night school and working for the Navy. She remained at the Defense Supply Agency which merged into various departments and she retired after 44 years of services in the Zero Defects Program of the Defense Logistic Agency and received various honors and accolades in her 44 years of service.

After retirement, Lola took on a new role as a highly respected researcher and Professor of Genealogy. She was often recruited to be a guest lecturer on the topic that interested her for more than 40 years. She published 28 volumes of ancestry that reside in libraries throughout the USA and National Library of Ireland. She has given many families a greater depth of understanding about their roots. She traveled the world doing her research oftentimes taking students. She loved what she did and shared that same passion with all. At the age of 66, she remarried Hiram Farrar, a fellow she had known her entire military career. When they went on their honeymoon cruise, they played the Newlywed game, and they kept the game participants in stitches because some of the obvious questions were answered with speed and accuracy since they had known each other most of their lives.

Lola was preceded in death by both of her husbands; her parents Lionel E. (Lee) Edwards and Frances (Florence) T. Edwards; her sisters, Virginia Edwards Hyatt, Madolyn Edwards Crysler, and Cecelia Edwards Sweet. She is survived by her only child, Loretta Lindsey and granddaughter, LaCretia White, husband Derick, all of Dallas, Texas.

Lola was a founding member of her local Daughters of the American Revolution, Lynn Historical Society, Dallas Genealogical Society, Mesquite Genealogy Society, an active NARFE member, volunteer of Dallas Public Library as well as volunteer of various Family History Libraries and Altrusa Club.

Her favorite charities were any and all programs that assist wounded veterans, or the World War II Museum, Parkland Health Foundation, the UTSW Medical Foundation or the Young Womens Christian Association's Teach a Child to Swim (YWCA).