William Boyd Farwell

William Boyd Farwell, 65, passed away peacefully at home on Sunday, August 7, 2016. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, August 16, 2016, at McLaren's Chapel in West Des Moines, with a prayer service at 7 p.m. A memorial service will be held 10 a.m. Wednesday, August 17, 2016, at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, 15 Indianola Road in Des Moines, followed by burial at Resthaven Cemetery.

William was born October 19, 1950 in Redfield, Iowa to Carl and Dorothy (Edmondson) Farwell. He was a graduate of Valley High School, West Des Moines, Iowa class of 1970. He joined the Naval Reserve in 1980 and served until he was honorably discharged in 1986. He then started his career with Des Moines Fleet Maintenance as a mechanic where he retired after 30 plus years in 2016. He was a lifelong member of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church and was a proud parent and supporter of Dowling High School. He was a very passionate person about history, religion and politics; he very much enjoyed learning about, as well as, conversing about these topics with others.

William enjoyed driving to Texas over the Christmas and New Year’s holiday to be with his son, as much as possible, and to spend time with family over the holiday. He was an amazing father and grandfather. He was very proud of his 4 children, 4 grandchildren and was loved dearly by his nieces and nephews.

William is survived by his sister, Jeannie (Randy) Carpenter of Thief River Falls, MN; brothers, Rick (Nancy) Farwell of Des Moines and Mike (Joni) Farwell of Des Moines; daughter, Tammy Farwell (Michael Kix) of Waukee; son, Bill (Jay) Farwell of Kingwood, Texas; daughters, Angela (Shawn) Simon of West Des Moines and Amanda Farwell of Ankeny; grandchildren Alexandria Farwell, Blake Williams, Aiana and Isaac Simon. He was preceded in death by his parents.

Memorial contributions may be directed to St. Anthony’s Catholic Church or Dowling High School.