Earl H. Faris

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Contributions may be made to the Faris Family for future designation in Earl's name.

May 25, 1953 what a great day. This was the day that Darrell and Betty Faris welcomed into their lives their first son, Earl Henry Faris. Little did they know what kind of man that Earl would grow up to be, how many lives he would touch and how many people would love him. They were raising a man that would be liked by most that knew him and loved by many. Earl grew up in a large family in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Along with his mother and father he had two brothers and three sisters, Paul, John, Louise, Rose and Alice. It was this family that laid the ground work for the importance that family would play throughout his life. He attended St. Lambert Grade School and then went on to Whittier Jr. High. Earl graduated high school in 1971 from Lincoln Sr. High. It was during school that Earl found his love of sports. While at Lincoln Sr. High, Earl ran on the cross country team and also was a member of the wrestling team. Along with those he also umpired softball and baseball. Along with sports he also marched in the Lincoln marching band, playing the French horn, an instrument that his daughter Tonya would later play. Earl also found his love for the outdoors while he was in school. Earl joined the Boy Scouts and stayed with it until he was able to earn his Eagle Scout honors. This love of the outdoors and scouts would prove influential as the years passed. Unfortunately also during high school Earl got to experience his first real loss, as his brother, John, was killed in a tragic accident. After high school, Earl went on to attend Southeast Area Vocational for one year. It was during that year that he received the computer training that would lay the groundwork for his career. He started his professional career at Milbank Mutual Insurance Company as an operator. In just a short time, he went from being an operator to a programmer, a position he held until he left the company. 1974 proved to be a big year in Earls life. This was the year that he was hired on as a programmer at John Morrell and Company. This is the company that would see him, in thirty years, progress from a Programmer, to a Systems Programmer, to a Project Manager, all the way to Senior Director of Information Systems in 1995. Morrells would also be the company that would see Earl move his family from Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Cincinnati, Ohio in order to further his career. 1974 would also be a big year in Earls personal life. With everything going well in his professional life, Earl took the first step to starting his own family by marrying the love of his life, Donna Brodrecht. Earl and Donna exchanged their vows on November 30, 1974. In 1975, Earl saw his world change again as he welcomed into the world their first child. Tonya was born in the spring of 1975 and that was the beginning of what would become a beautiful and loving family. Two years later in the fall of 1977, Earl and Donna welcomed their second daughter, Darla, into their lives. While Tonya and Darla were young, Earl found a volunteer role that he embraced. He became a member of the Minnehaha County Sheriff Reserves. Doing this in his spare time between work and family, Earl loved feeling like he was helping his community. It was during this time that Earls family had to deal with loss again, as his wifes father and his good hunting partner, Raymond Brodrecht would pass away in 1978. Earl would continue with the Sheriff Reserves until the fall of 1982 when Earl welcomed in his one and only son, Justin. Rumor has it that the day Justin was born was also the start of pheasant hunting season, and after being present for his sons birth, Earl proceeded to celebrate by going out and hunting on the first day of the season. The good news is that the love of hunting would be something that he would pass on to Justin and they would enjoy together when Justin was old enough to hunt. In 1990, Earl would be faced with one of the toughest decisions that he would have to make in his life. In order to continue to advance his career with John Morrell, he would have to uproot his family and move them east to Cincinnati, Ohio. He had a daughter in high school, one in middle school and a son in grade school. Not to mention, this meant leaving all of his family and friends in Sioux Falls. In the end, the decision was made and Earl and his family made the move east in order for him to continue to provide the life he wanted to for his wife and kids. While his children were in school, he tried to stay involved in their lives as much as he could. He enjoyed watching Tonya and Darla march in the band during halftime of high school football games or watching Justin kick the soccer ball or extra point in high school. But perhaps the thing he enjoyed the most was being the Assistant Scout Master as Justin followed in his footsteps in the Boy Scouts. Justin too, like his father, became an Eagle Scout. This bond of scouts saw Earl and Justins relationship grow strong as they went on many adventures together. From the Adirondack Mountains in New York to Scuba diving in the Bahamas and from white water rafting in West Virginia to fulfilling a dream and visiting Philmont in Cimarron, New Mexico, Earl and Justin saw the world together. During Tonyas time in college, Earl found something that he would grow to love, Xavier Basketball. It was during Tonyas time at Xavier that Earl and his family would start attending games and Earl would become a lifelong fan of the Musketeers. This love of the game would only grow when Justin too would attend Xavier and would become heavily involved with the team. Earl would follow his son and the team on two Elite 8 runs and multiple A10 championships and loved every minute of it. Outsiders would argue that one of the happiest times of Earls life, but probably also one of the most stressful would be the year that would stretch from June 2000 to June 2001. In June 2000, Earl married off his first daughter, Tonya, to Scott Burkardt. In just a short year later, June 2001, he married off his second daughter, Darla, to Mike Belcuore. Although he loved both guys like they were his own sons, no man should have to give away two daughters in just one year. Unfortunately, that year was not all fun parties as Earl was hit with a loss again as he had to say goodbye to Darrell Faris, his father, who passed away that spring. In 2003 Earl would see his employment with John Morrell and Company come to an end after 30 years. Earl would move on to Belcan Corporation in July 2004 as a Computer Services Operations Manager. In this role Earl would oversee Belcan sites in the U.S. as well as oversees in China. In 2005, Earl added to his family of adults one more time, when Justin said his I dos with Lisa Ederle. One of the happiest moments of Earls life started in 2002. In the late summer of 2002, Earl would welcome Alex, the first of his six grandchildren into the world. Collin was born in the winter of 2003, followed by Carter in the fall of 2004, Madison in the Spring of 2005, Luke in the Spring of 2007 and lastly Kaitlyn in the Spring of 2008. The grandkids, although spirited at times, were truly the center of Earls world and he never missed the chance to talk, brag and show off any of them. To them, Pa-Pa was truly their buddy and they loved being with him. It is true that Earl spent a lot of time at work. But as hard as he worked he also loved to play just as hard. When it came to play time, family was always around. Be it playing on the golf league with Justin, bowling with Scott and Mike, sitting around catching up with his daughters on Friday nights, taking his grandchildren to things like Day Out with Thomas, or just spending a quiet evening with his wife, he wanted to be with his family. Earl loved to hunt and fish. He and Justin have been on several deer, pheasant, and even wild boar trips together. In the past few years, he has taken Justin, his two son-in-laws, and even his nephew to Lake Erie to enjoy some walleye fishing. On one of these trips, he even caught his trophy fish that is proudly displayed at his home. Earl had also started to get into wood working and had made his grandchildren rocking horses and train tables. That brings us to July 25, 2008. The world lost a great man that day. If you ever had the chance to meet him, you know truly how wonderful he was. He welcomed anyone he met with open arms. He was only a phone call away if family or friends needed help or just someone to talk to. He touched so many peoples lives and is going to be missed by many.

Earl as you look down on us now, please know that we all LOVE you, you are going to be missed, and you will NEVER be forgotten.