Walter Floy Farr, 94, died last Thursday just as he lived, very quietly and without fanfare.

He has been referred to as outstanding humanitarian, a conscientious citizen, solid churchman, a friend to all, a mainstay of the community.

His funeral service was Monday morning at the First Presbyterian Church, Peachtree City, a church he helped to build in the mid-1960s.

Said one of the participating pastors, the Rev. Ed Nelson, “When Floy Farr died, it was equal to the burning of a library.” Nelson served as Farr’s pastor at Hopewell United Methodist, Tyrone, 40 years ago.

“Floy had two lives,” said Nelson. “The first half of his life was spent in Tyrone where he loaned money to farmers and people wanting to buy their first home. He helped farmers through the bad years, and rejoiced with them in the good years.

“When he moved to Peachtree City, he continued loaning money to the deserving, encouraging those who were not sure what to do next with their life, and helped them to ‘keep on, keeping on’ Many here today are better for having known him”

The Rev. Dr. Don Smith was first assigned to the Presbyterian Church when it met in a bank conference room. Smith reached a point where he felt pastoring was maybe not what he was called to do, after all. Farr advised him to go sit under a huge oak tree, near where Partners Pizza is located. Smith did so, and caught on to the fact that from little acorns, mighty oak trees grow. You just have to be patient.

Farr’s close friend of 49 years, Joel Cowan, read from Mark 10:43-45: “Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant. And whoever wants to be greatest of all must be the servant of all. For even I, the Messiah, am not here to be served, but to help others, and to give my life as a ransom for many.”

Cowan said a servant-leader must insist on collaboration rather than competition, can move to the other side, holds accountable, but never blames, lets go of control, and trusts and validates others, puts oneself at risk, with humility and clarity, and uses power to inspire, enroll and organize; never to manipulate or subjugate.

“Floy Farr and I,” said Cowan, “shared a common vision. That vision was made possible through Floy’s innate ability to lead by being a servant. There is no way to count the lives he touched by being a servant to the community.”

Farr has been honored many times through the years; he was Citizen of the Year in 1966, had a portion of Ga. Highway 54 named for him, had a room in the Peachtree City Public Library named for him, and was named Business Person of the Year through the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce in 1983.

He leaves a wife, Hilda Bruce Loyd Farr, a resident of Ashley Glen Assisted Living, Peachtree City; a son, Dr. Walter Floy “Sonny” and Pat Farr Jr., Sante Fe, N. M.; a daughter-in-law, Wendie Farr, Peachtree City; grandchildren, Matthew and Mandi Wood, and Robby and Whitney Freeman; and a great-granddaughter, Finley Jane Freeman.

He was laid to rest at Westminster Memorial Gardens, Peachtree City.

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