Man dies from COVID-19, and his obituary calls out anti-maskers
"He was not surrounded by friends and family," reads the powerful death notice for Kansas veterinarian Dr. Marvin J. Farr.
- Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year" award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Every so often, an obituary gains viral attention, sometimes for being humorous, sometimes for being touching. The obituary for Dr. Marvin J. Farr of Scott City, Kansas, is one of the touching ones. Its writer, Farr's son Courtney Farr, directly calls out those who refuse to wear face masks to protect others from COVID-19, which killed his father.
"He was preceded in death by more than 260,000 Americans infected with COVID-19," Farr's obituary reads. "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."
The obituary notes that Farr was born in 1939, when Americans were about to be asked to ration food and supplies and to send their children off to fight and die in World War II. In comparison, Farr "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 farmer, a veterinarian and a churchgoer, the obituary notes, who "saw no conflict between the science of his professional life and the belief of his personal life."
In a Facebook post, Courtney Farr wrote that most of the reaction to the obituary was positive, but that some people accused him of making the notice political.
"Well, his death was political," Farr replied. "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."