Francis Walter Farley of Orleans passed away on July 3, 2021 at the age of 93. Frank was born to the late Emma (Vachon) and John E. Farley on June 13, 1928 in Lowell, Massachusetts. He grew up in Lowell and attended St. Francis High School in nearby Duxbury. Frank served in the US Army from 1955 to 1956 as part of the Finance Corps stationed in Japan. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Merrimack College and later continued his education at Boston College (Master of Education) and Northeastern University (Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies).

 

For over four decades Frank was a professional educator. He began as a teacher in Potlach, Idaho and later served students as a Guidance Counselor, Guidance Director, and District Administrator in Chelmsford, Somerset, Millis, Walpole, and Falmouth, Massachusetts. He was President of both the South Shore Guidance Association (SSGA) and the Massachusetts School Counselors Association (MSCA). 

 

Very early, Frank saw the potential of computers to revolutionize our lives in general and education in particular. In 1979 he brought home a Radio Shack TRS-80, storing MSCA membership data on cassette tapes and watching it take up to 45 minutes to sort the 500 entries alphabetically. In 1980 he had one of the first Apple II+ computers on Cape Cod and was an active participant in the Boston Computer Society, where he once sat next to a young, hyperactive Harvard undergraduate named Bill Gates. He sponsored projects to put computers into Falmouth schools as early as 1984.

 

Frank was married to Constance (Lacroix) from 1961 to 1992. They started their family in Millis and Walpole, moving to Osterville, Massachusetts in 1976. Frank spent his final 30 years in South Yarmouth and Orleans on Cape Cod. An avid walker, he delighted in driving down a random road and discovering a new beach. There are few stretches of sand between Sandwich and Provincetown that have not marked his footsteps through the years.

 

Frank was predeceased by his brother, Edward Farley, his sister, Lillian Farley, and his son, David. He is survived by; his twin siblings, Rev. Jack Farley of Northbrook, IL and Sr. Joan Farley of Manchester, CT, as well as; his children, Marie Kerr (John) of South Berwick, ME, Michael Farley (Marytheresa) of Sandwich, MA, Anne Farley-Poyant (Donald Poyant) of Orleans, MA, Joseph Farley (Sylvia Chen) of Deerfield, IL, and Kathleen Nourse (Peter) of North Conway, NH. He is also survived by; twelve grandchildren, Patrick Farley, Eric Poyant, Jessica Chen, Meghan Kerr, Jeremy Poyant, Margaret Farley, Alexander Chen, Amy Poyant, Michelle Chen, Jasmyn Kerr, Charlotte Nourse, and Daniel Nourse, as well as twenty nieces and nephews.

 

Calling hours will be held on Thursday, July 8 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at Hallett Funeral Home, 273 Station Avenue, South Yarmouth. A funeral Mass will be held on Friday, July 9 at 11:00 A.M. at Our Lady of Victory Church, 230 Main Street, Centerville. Interment will follow in St. Francis Xavier Cemetery, Pine Street, Centerville. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Orleans Council on Aging, ATTN: Judi Wilson, 150 Rock Harbor Road, Orleans, MA 02653, with a note to apply funds to the senior transportation service in memory of Frank Farley. To leave an online remembrance, visit www.hallettfuneralhome.com.

 

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