Walter "Walt" Patrick Farrell

Walter P. Farrell

Rosary Services for Walter P. Farrell, age 91, was held at 7:00 P.M. Friday in the Peet Mortuary Chapel. The funeral mass was held at 10:00 A.M. Saturday morning at St. Leo's Catholic Church in Lusk with Rev. Patrick Shea officiating. Burial followed in the Lusk Cemetery.

Mr. Farrell died Wednesday, March 15, 1989, in the West Nebraska General Hospital in Scottsbluff, NE. He was born May 20, 1897, in LeMars, Iowa, the son of Patrick and Catherine Farrell. He attended school in LeMars and was an All-State Football Halfback in 1913.

While working for Swift and Company in 1917, he homesteaded five miles east of Lance Creek in Niobrara County.

During World War I he served with the Navy in England and France.

In 1921, Walter married Josephine Kaneff in Lincoln, NE. They moved to the Silver Cliff Hotel in Lusk while "proving up" on the homestead. Later they moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota where a son, Jerry, was born in 1923. They lived in LeMars, Iowa from 1924 until 1931. Their daughter, Joan, was born there in 1925. The Farrells moved to Niobrara County in 1931 and dry-farmed until 1936.

Walt and Jo started a wholesale candy and tobacco business in Lusk. They continued in this endeavor until 1956, when they retired and moved to Denver.

The Farrells returned to Lusk in 1978. They resided in the Ranger Apartments until poor health forced them to enter the Niobrara County Nursing Home in 1986. Mrs. Farrell died in 1987.

Besides his wife, Mr. Farrell was preceded in death by his parents, and one son, Jerry.

Survivors include: one daughter, Kathleen J. Kearney; three grandsons, Jerry, Mike, and Stephen Farrell; two granddaughters, Lynn Kearney and Sue Pajcic; and four great-grandchildren.

Peet Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.

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