by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
Roger and Jan Farley have been married for 56 years, and their hoping for another 10, not just because they still love each other but because they love helping people.
The Farleys were named Sartell Senior Volunteer Citizens of the Year at the annual Sartell Area Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet at Blackberry Ridge Golf Course and Event Center on Nov. 17
(For other winners, see stories in this newspaper.)
As soon as the Farleys moved to Sartell, back in 1972, Roger was one of the first to help start the Sartell Community Education program, and he, himself, taught a cardiopulmonary resuscitation class before a director was hired. He was also gung-ho about the Sartell High School Sabre Booster Club, as well as Jan, who was an officer in the group. They still vividly recall all the spaghetti fundraisers they helped bring to the high school – fundraisers that helped purchase a scoreboard for the football field and a P.A. system for the field.
Later, Roger also taught Introduction to Model Railroading in community education. He is still a passionate railroad modeler and belongs to the Central Minnesota Model Railroaders Club.
Long before Celebration Lutheran Church even had its own building, the Farleys were founding members of it within a fledgling group. And all through the years, they were deeply involved in the church and its development and programs – as financial secretaries, Jan as a wedding coordinator and as a church quilter, as setting up for communion times, working in the kitchen, cooking and baking treats for events and for fundraisers, and as mentors for confirmation candidates.
Even after Roger retired, he was instrumental in a transition team when Celebration was about to build its new home on Pinecone Road N. in Sartell. He, the architect and the civil engineer were constantly in contact, serving as a collective sounding board for the project’s contractor. That was back in 2004, a year Roger calls his “final retirement.” He had retired in 1996 from his jobs in telephone engineering, but he was badly in need as a contractor and so he agreed to work for another eight years. Like many a die-hard volunteer, Roger and Jan just cannot retire – not really, ever. It’s because they just can’t say no.
Roger Farley was born in Detroit Lakes, Jan Schlosser in Frederick, S.D.
When he was 20, Farley found himself working in Lisbon, N.D. Roger suffered a leg injury and ended up in the tiny hospital with an elderly roommate. Later, released from the hospital, Farley went back to see how his roommate was doing. During the visit, the man introduced Farley to a new lab-and-X-ray technician, named Jan Schlosser.
“She was the girl for me,” Farley said. “I think she felt the same about me.”
Their first date was at the Jet Café.
“We went there for supper and ate some kind of pie for dessert,” he told the Newsleader.
“It was blueberry pie,” Jan added.
“Anyway, it was at the Jet Café Jan introduced me to eating shrimp,” Roger said. “I still love shrimp.”
About 18 months later, the couple was married in Lisbon on April 17, 1960. At the time, Roger was managing the parks department for John Deere equipment. Later, he went to electronics school in Wahpeton, then worked for Northwestern Bell in Little Falls. Still later, he went to telephone-engineering school in Minneapolis, with lots of on-the-job training. He was a construction foreman for many years, then went back to his engineering job for US West.
The Farleys moved to Sartell in 1972. By then they had children, but they decided to become foster parents. For five years, they fostered 14 children.
“Those children came from all sorts of situations,” Roger said. “Financial and other things. Some were not loved at home. We had love to give them. Some were just infants right from the hospital.”
In Sartell, Jan worked in the engineering department of the DeZurik Corp. for 20 years.
The Farleys have two biological daughters: Claudia Dumont, a project engineer for the Minnesota Department of Transportation; and Jolaine Schreifels, a registered nurse at the surgical unit of St. Cloud Hospital. They have five grandchildren.
In retirement, if they ever really do, the Farleys would like to do some more traveling. They’ve seen most of the USA, recently enjoyed a European trip and have a yen to see more of the world. Meantime, back home, Roger enjoys woodworking; Jan enjoys cooking and quilting.
Roger and Jan Farley were named Sartell Senior Volunteers of the Year by the Sartell Area Chamber of Commerce.
