Kansas man died of COVID-19 ‘lonelier than necessary.’ His obituary slams anti-maskers
A Kansas man was born shortly before World War II when Americans willingly rationed supplies and sent their children to fight in wars, but, according to his obituary “he died in a world where many of his fellow Americans refuse to wear a piece of cloth on their face to protect one another.”
Marvin James Farr, 81, of Scott City, Kansas, died of the coronavirus Tuesday at the Park Lane Nursing Home. His obituary provides a scathing critique of those who choose not to wear masks in public or take seriously the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 275,000 Americans.
Farr’s last days, the obituary said, “were harder, scarier and lonelier than necessary.”
“He died in a room not his own, being cared for by people dressed in confusing and frightening ways,” the obituary said. “He was not surrounded by his friends and family.”
He had been in isolation since Thanksgiving, according to a Facebook post from his son, Courtney Farr.
According to data from the Scott County Health Department, five people in the county have died of the rapidly spreading virus. There are 376 cases. Statewide, there have been 162,061 reported cases and 1,679 deaths.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly issued two statewide mask orders since the pandemic began but individual counties have the option of opting out.
According to the obituary, Farr was fascinated by the science of life and pursued that knowledge as a veterinarian. However, the obituary said, the science Farr dedicated his professional life to has now been disparaged by the same people who depended on his expertise.
The obituary says Farr was religious and a “man of the community.”
“He would look after those who had harmed him the deepest, a sentiment echoed by the healthcare workers struggling to do their jobs as their own communities turn against them or make their jobs harder,” the obituary said.
In a Facebook post sharing the obituary, Courtney Farr said the obituary was written in the manner it was because he had spent the past several months listening to people in his hometown claim the coronavirus isn’t real or isn’t that bad and that masks don’t work.
“Because of the prevalence of those attitudes, my father’s death was so much harder on him, his family and his caregivers than it should have been,” Courtney Farr wrote.
In a separate post, Courtney Farr wrote that he often argued about politics with his father and so the political nature of the obituary was fitting.
“I’m sure my father’s main complaint would be that he doesn’t have the chance to give you all his two cents,” he wrote.
This story was originally published December 3, 2020 at 6:48 PM.
