Robert "Bob" J. Farris

CLEAR LAKE – Robert “Bob” J. Farris, 72, of rural Clear Lake died Wednesday, May 27, 2015 at his home.

Funeral services will be held 7 P.M., Sunday, May 31st at the Cataldo Funeral Chapel in Garner with Rev. Ed Bard, Hospice of North Iowa chaplain officiating. Military rites will be conducted by the Garner Veterans Ceremonial Unit. Inurnment will be at a later date.

Visitation will be held from 4:30 to 7 P.M., Sunday with the casket open from 4:30 until 5 P.M.

Robert James Farris, the son of Adolphus and Verdella (Meister) Farris, was born March 10, 1943 in Albert Lea, Minnesota. He graduated from Glenville High School in 1961. He received scholarship offers to play football at the collegiate level, but opted instead to enter the workforce. For a few years he painted water towers, drove harvesters, and worked at a meat packing plant.

With the war in Vietnam escalating, Bob was drafted into the U.S. Army. He considered himself lucky to be assigned to South Korea peacekeeping operations. Following his honorable discharge, he returned to Minnesota. Reconsidering his stance on higher education, he earned an Associate’s Degree in electrical engineering and embarked on a career in computers and networking. In the 1980s he was the Engineer In Charge of the mainframes — computers the size of football fields — at the Dearborn, Michigan world headquarters of the Ford Motor Company.

On December 30, 1970 Bob married Lorraine Amundsen of Minneapolis. They lived in Texas and Minnesota before settling in Michigan, where they raised their three children. Lorraine passed away in 1990. Bob never remarried.

In 2003, Bob moved north of Ventura and became a truck driver at T.S. Trucking in Northwood. He adopted an Australian shepherd from an animal shelter in Los Angeles, California, named her Bailey, and they became each other’s constant companion. He enjoyed his Harley Davidson, working in the yard, golfing, and visiting with friends and family. Most of all, he enjoyed being a grandfather.

Bob is survived by his three children, Mark (Asha) Farris and their two children, Callan and Isla of Pasadena, CA, SueAnn Farris of Los Angeles, CA, and Ryan (Sarah) Farris and their two children, Niels and Tesla of Raleigh, NC; siblings, Loretta (Donald) Nordon of Kensington, KS, Laverne “Sonny” Farris of Garner (special friend, Janice Peterson) and Norma (James) Nelson of Albert Lea, MN; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Lorraine in 1990; parents; sisters, Beverly Brabec and Darlene Farris; sister-in-law, Dottie Farris; and brother-in-law, Elvin Lambert.