Deceased March 18, 2012

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In Memory

Robert Lawrence Farwell, 90, died peacefully at home in Santa Fe, N.M., on March 18, 2012. Born and raised in the Chicago area, he graduated Amherst College in 1943. After serving in the U.S. Army, he returned to the University of Chicago Law School to receive his J.D. There he met and married his lifelong partner, Carol Yeomans. It is she who introduced him to Door County, Wis., and they spent much of every summer at her family’s home in Ephraim.

Bob’s career was varied but always with the common thread of civic and governmental reform, especially in the field of mental health. He drafted legislation on public health for the Illinois Department of Public Welfare, was a staff member on the campaign committee for Gov. Adlai E Stevenson for president, served as executive director of Citizens for a Greater Chicago, volunteered as president of the Mental Health Society of Chicago and was appointed associate dean for Planning and Professorial Lecturer in Government and Business at the University of Chicago. His experience in business law and health reform finally converged in his position as executive director of Recovery International, a self-help mental health organization. After retiring in 1987, he and Carol split their time between Door County and Santa Fe, N.M. For the last eight years, he volunteered in the library at the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art in Santa Fe.

Bob lost his beloved wife, Carol, last July after 63 years of marriage. He is survived by their children Robin, Leslie, Charlie and Barnaby, as well as by grandchildren and a great-grandson.

A devoted husband and father, a dedicated Democrat, a practitioner of t’ai chi and a Shakespeare devotee, he was always ready to take on new challenges. To his many friends of all ages, he was a constant source of keen listening, wise counsel, probing questions and lively discussion. He will be dearly missed by many. A private memorial celebration was to be held this summer.

Leslie (daughter)