Jeffrey Paul Farley, age 63, died peacefully on April 9, 2019. He was born on April 15, 1955 in Chicago, Ill., to Harrison and Marie (Meyers) Farley, the second oldest of six children. Jeff, a longtime resident of Mpls., graduated from Edina High School in 1973. As a teenager, he found a home in the boxing ring at the Mpls. Lake Street Gym and won the city Golden Gloves welterweight championship.

He began his 31-year work career at Swedish Hospital before transitioning to the bioelectronics department at HCMC. There he met and fell in love with his wife, Carrie, 20 years ago.

Jeff sought adventure. While still in high school, he and a friend hopped a boxcar in the freight yard to ride out West one summer where they worked and lived alongside migrants in the fruit orchards. It was during that trip that "a boy became a man" and lessons he learned toughened his resolve and set him on his path in life as a workingman, never concerned with the superficialities of modern life.

Jeff had a great respect of nature and loved the outdoors. He bought land on the shores of the Chippewa Flowage in northwestern Wisconsin. There, he pitched his tent and tended to the land, eventually having a log cabin built. From a young age, Jeff embraced the wonder of the wilderness and also aimed to tame it as a skilled fisherman. He revered the Northwoods, and he and Carrie spent much of their free time there visiting with friends and fishing, always angling for the elusive musky.

Jeff resisted convention, authority, and conformity; like his mother, he championed the underdog. He was honest and authentic; a captivating storyteller; a truth-seeker and truth-teller, even if you were ill-prepared for his realness. He cherished his friends and family, and was blessed to fall in love with Carrie, a true partner, his guardian angel who cared for him as his health failed and who was by his side when he passed.

Preceded in death by his mother. Survived by his beloved wife of nearly 13 years, Carrie (Boswell); his father, Dr. Harrison Hatheway Farley; siblings Claudia (Pedro) Diaz Pow Sang, Karen "Kim" (Mark) Lewis, Robin (Dean) Herbst, Ty Farley, Julie (Jim) Leahy; and cousins, nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, and grand-nephews.

On behalf of Carrie and the entire Farley family, we would like to express our gratitude for the compassionate care the HCMC staff gave to Jeff. Memorials preferred to any local food shelf. A private gathering of family and friends in celebration of Jeff's life is planned for April 27.

Published on April 21, 2019