December 5, 2020, 11:02 am
An obituary for a Kansas man named Dr. Marvin J. Farr has gone viral after his family used it to share some stark truths about what it’s like to die from COVID-19. The 81-year-old was in a nursing home away from his family, and they made that clear in the opening paragraph:
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Dr. Marvin James Farr, 81, of Scott City, Kan., passed away Dec. 1, 2020, in isolation at Park Lane Nursing Home. He was preceded in death by more than 260,000 Americans infected with covid-19. He died in a room not his own, being cared for by people dressed in confusing and frightening ways. He died with covid-19, and his final days were harder, scarier and lonelier than necessary. He was not surrounded by friends and family.
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It continued to say that Farr was born into the Great Depression and just before the beginning of WWII, emphasizing that these were eras of self-sacrifice. But 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.”
Farr was a veterinarian, who studied science for his profession, and the obituary adds, “The science that guided his professional life has been disparaged and abandoned by so many of the same people who depended on his knowledge to care for their animals and to raise their food.”
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They added, “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 obit has been “recommended” on facebook over 3,000 times, and the response has been so big that his son, Courtney Farr, responded on Facebook:
Courtney wrote that the response has been largely positive, but he had a few thoughts about the negative comments.
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“The response is vastly positive, but I have seen a few negative comments, including claims that I made my father’s obituary political. Well, his death was political. He died in isolation with an infectious disease that is causing a national crisis. To pretend otherwise or to obfuscate is also a political decision.”
He also said that he and his dad loved to argue politics together and were on different sides of the political spectrum.
“I’m sure my father’s main complaint would be that he doesn’t have the chance to give you all his two cents,” wrote Courtney.
*First Published: December 5, 2020, 11:02 am
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