Dr. Gresham Talmadge Farrar, Jr., BS, MS, DMD, a descendant of William Farrar (I), a 1618 English emigrant to Jamestown, Virginia, died at home surrounded by family on February 4, 2021, from natural causes. Captain Farrar, a maxillo-facial surgeon retired from the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) in 1981 when the USPHS Hospital located at State and Tchoupitoulas Streets, NOLA was closed by President Reagan. He was born on November 16, 1934 at Birmingham, Alabama, in the middle of the “Great Depression”. He was preceded in death by his parents, Gresham Talmadge Farrar, Sr. and Jonnie Belle, (Chappell) Farrar and his beloved daughter, Debra Leigh (Farrar) Frueh (by his first wife) and his beloved son, Gregory Wayne Farrar of Atlanta (by his first wife). He is survived by Suzanne (Katz) Farrar, his wife, his love, his loyal supportive best friend of 44+ years, and their beloved son, Bryan Alan Farrar (Monica) of Covington, LA. Gresham is also survived by his much beloved wonderful children Cheryl Anne Ernst (John) of Atlanta and Leisa Kay Farrar of Gretna LA, by his first wife, Bertha Grace (Brown) Farrar and son in-law Doug Frueh. He is also survived by his granddaughters Jennifer Frueh Labrador (Miguel), Madison Ernst Mantle (Justin), Kaiya Lorraine Farrar, Talia Antoinette Farrar, grandson Caelan Quinn Farrar and great grandson Logan James Labrador. He is also brother-in-law to JoAnne Katz Ehrhard (Sidney), uncle to Stephanie Ann Ehrhard, Stephen Gerard Ehrhard, Joseph Anthony Hurst, great uncle to Nicholas Edward Ehrhard (Shelby) and great great uncle to Piper Kate Ehrhard and Brooks Henry Ehrhard.
Dr. Farrar, an honor student, attended public schools in Birmingham, Alabama and graduated from Howard College (now Samford University) of Birmingham, Alabama. He graduated from the University Of Alabama School Of Dentistry in the class of 1959 followed by a 1959/1960 Dental Internship at the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) Hospital, NOLA. His first opportunity to practice general dentistry was in 1960/1962 at the Federal Prison in Petersburg, Virginia. He practiced general dentistry in 1963-1966 in Los Angeles and Memphis, TN while teaching part time at the USC Dental School and the University of Tennessee Dental School, respectively. His maxillo-facial surgical residency occurred at the New York University School of Dentistry located on Manhattan supplemented by clinical training at Bellevue Hospital on Manhattan and the 350 bed USPHS Hospital on Staten Island, NY. Following the completion of his residency, he moved back to NOLA in 1970 and was the in-house maxillo-facial surgeon at the USPHS Hospital, NOLA. During this period he taught part-time at the LSU School of Dentistry. Following the 1981 closure of the USPHS Hospital, NOLA, Dr. Farrar went into private practice in NOLA for a short period of time but was offered a job by Whittaker Corporation, an American company which furnished medical personnel to nine hospitals in Saudi Arabia. He and his wife, Suzanne, were hired to work at Khamis Mushayt, located in the mountains of south western Saudi Arabia near Yemen. Their son, Bryan, was born there in 1982. On returning home from Saudi Arabia, Dr. Farrar retired permanently.
Gresham’s life was punctuated by a series of hobbies which included playing the clarinet in grammar school and high school (1940s-1950s); serious competitive table tennis in college; kayaking in the 1970s; a back packer and camper (to bottom Grand Canyon in 1970s for 5 days); golfer, 3 handicap, in 1970s-1990s; serious competitive Bridge competition; sky diver 1970s (50 jumps); a SCUBA diver and underwater photographer with 2500 open water dives worldwide and a published genealogist par excellence 1980s-to his death. He belonged to many organizations including but not limited to Order of Descendants of Ancient Planters 1606-1616, The Sons of the Revolution, Baronial Order of the Magna Charta, The Sons of the American Revolution, The Society of the War of 1812, The Society of Colonial Wars and The Jamestowne Society and he had an ongoing love affair with the Corvette, owning 10 over the years.
The family would like to give special thanks to Lakeside Hospice personnel; especially the caring and empathetic nurses, Leonard, Jaqueline, and Andrika. We would like to thank Dr. Orgotti for being compassionate and listening when listening is the most important part of treatment. We would like to thank the Chaplain, Walter and the Music Therapist, Carissa. They all brought a bit of joy to his life during these trying days.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Memorial Service on Saturday, March 6, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. at Munholland United Methodist Church, 1201 Metairie Rd., Metairie, LA 70005. Interment will follow in Lake Lawn Park Cemetery.
Due to current COVID guidelines, masks are required as well as social distancing for attendees.
The service will be live streamed through Munholland United Methodist Church at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqt8pOQbDRBI2Ecl0JVb_aQ
The family invites you to share your fond memories and condolences online at www.lakelawnmetairie.com
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