Charles Edwin Farr

Charles Edwin (Chuck) Farr died Friday, Friday, May 27, 2022, at Wesley Acres in Des Moines, IA. He was born August 28, 1922 in the small Iowa town of Mt. Hamill in Lee County, Iowa, to Carey and Esther Farr. A Memorial Service will be held in Dunn's Funeral Home, 2121 Grand Avenue in Des Moines, Iowa at 1 p.m. Friday, June 10, 2022.
Chuck graduated in 1939 from Eureka Township High School in Eureka, Illinois. That part of his life included being a paper carrier for the Bloomington Pantagraph, all high school sports but football, piano lessons and playing baritone horn and trombone in high school band and orchestra and the town band, and a deep involvement in boy scouts. As a young scout his swimming instructor was Ronald Reagan, a student at Eureka Christian College.
Chuck was hired as a machinist apprentice by Caterpillar Tractor Company in East Peoria, Illinois, but after a year was sent by Caterpillar to Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago as a mechanical engineering student. His studies were interrupted after two and a half years by three and a half years of military service in the U S Corps of Engineers. He was honorably discharged as a First Lieutenant after service in the Philippines and the occupation forces in Japan.
Rather than return to Caterpillar for further education as a mechanical engineer, Chuck entered Grinnell College majoring in mathematics. He graduated in June 1948 with honors and married Marilyn Herselius in the college chapel on graduation day. A year of graduate studies at Columbia University in New York was followed by employment in the insurance industry at Equitable Life Assurance Society in New York. The young family moved to Des Moines in 1952 where Chuck was an actuarial trainee at Bankers Life, now Principal Financial Group.
Chuck's employment at Principal Financial Group spanned thirty-five years. He was a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, a Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and an Enrolled Actuary. He retired from Principal in 1987 as chief actuary, and then formed an actuarial consulting firm dealing with pension plans, health benefit plans and expert witness in related court cases. He retired from this work in 1996. The melding of backgrounds in engineering and mathematics made his work very satisfying.
Chuck was physically active all his life with pole vaulting, softball, bowling, tennis, golf, swimming, sailing, canoeing, camping, cross-country skiing and mountain climbing. He had other interests as well, including the trombone, piano, opera performances in the US and other countries, serving on the Des Moines Metro Opera board for many years, learning American Sign Language and qualifying as a Master Gardener. Chuck and Marilyn traveled extensively starting in 1966 but had no desire to reach Antarctica.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 72 years Marilyn and a brother Gilbert (Tommy)
Chuck is survived by his daughter Retha Christine Farr Weiss (John) of Marquette, MI, sons Charles Michael Farr (Martha) of Des Moines, Thomas Carey Farr (Deirdre) of Des Moines and David Clinton Farr (Margaret) of Chicago. Seven grandchildren are Retha's Celia and Aaron, Michael's twins Jason (Dana) and Jonathan, Thomas's Matthew, Kathleen and Rachel. Six great grandchildren are Kathleen's William, Ruth and June (with Jeff Matthews), Celia's Israel (with Lance Ouattara), Jason's Ellery (with Dana Kabat-Farr) and Rachel's Judah (with Kyle Moore).
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to either the Des Moines Metro Opera or The Marilyn & Charles Farr Fund for American Sign Language at Drake University. Chuck's body is claimed by Des Moines University's Body Donor Program.
Chuck's services will be livestreamed on his obituary page shortly before 1 p.m. Friday.
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