Jerome Farber

Jerome Carlyle Farber was born on February 13, 1922 in Rahway, New Jersey to ma and Rose Farber. He was the oldest of four (4) siblings, Audrey, Florence and Hilliard. After graduation from high school, he enlisted in the Army Air Corp as a second Lieutenant and was immediately assigned to B-24 bombardier school in Charleston, South Carolina. While there, he met the love of his life, Ethel.

It was during his first mission when his plane was attacked over Hungary and he and his crew had to parachute out of their burning plane and was immediately captured by the Germans where he remained a POW until the end of the war. They continued their love affair through letters throughout the war.

Fortunately, most of the letters written between his parents and his future wife were saved by the family. He even wrote a manuscript documenting his war experience and love story between he and Ethel.

After the war and his marriage to his sweetheart Ethel, he used the GI Bill to attend Cornell University and earned his BS degree in Chemical Engineering. His first job after graduation was with Hercules Powder Company at the Allegheny Ballistics Laboratory in Cumberland, Maryland. There he worked as a chemical engineer on solid rocket propellant issues. In 1959, he was transferred to the Hercules Inc.

Bacchus Works Plant in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he became program manager for the Minute Man Missile Project. He was then transferred to the Rocketdyne Plant outside Waco, Texas where he retired in 1995. He was highly respected as an engineer and manager throughout his career.

Jerome was very athletic and played all sports but especially loved tennis and golf. Throughout the sixties, Joel and his father played in numerous company golf tournaments. In his golfing career, being very competitive, he achieved five (5) holes in ones. However, he often stated his greatest achievement was being a coach of a Jewish basketball team winning the sportsmanship award in the Cumberland, Maryland YMCA League.

He loved to travel abroad. When he returned from the war by ship, he said he would never sail again. However, his wife Ethel convinced him to go on a cruise, which he ultimately loved. He later sailed to all parts of the world, including, Asia, Europe, Australia and Israel.

Even though Jerome was not considered a very religious person, he routinely attended services each week and High Holiday services each year. He was president of the synagogues in both Salt Lake City, Utah and Waco, Texas. He was highly regarded as a person of integrity in the community. As a father, he was a disciplinarian and encouraged his children to be honest, trustworthy and serve their community with distinction.

After 45 years of marriage, Ethel died in 1990. Soon after, he married his second wife, Winnefred, who was his golfing partner at Boca West Country Club. They enjoyed traveling together and competing in golf tournaments. After Winny’s passing, he met Thelma Shulman. They have been together for the past sixteen (16) years. They loved each other very much and enjoyed life together. His son, Joel, has often said that Thelma is a remarkable woman with energy and was a wonderful partner for his father. She was with him every day until his passing. We owe so much to Thelma and love her as a wonderful stepmother.