James A. Farmer

James Albert Farmer, Jr., 87, passed away peacefully at his home on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, which was his desire. He was a beloved brother, husband, father, grandpa, great-grandpa and friend who will be deeply missed by all who knew him. Jim was born on May 10, 1938, to James Albert and Helen Farmer in Portland, OR, and was raised in Bend, OR. In High School, Jim was privileged to meet the love of his life, LaDella Smith, in her junior year. Jim noticed LaDella Ann Smith by the drinking fountain at Bend High School, and was smitten. He proposed to LaDella on her senior graduation night, before her graduation ceremony. He went on to attend the University of Oregon in Eugene, OR. He also attended Portland State University, where he obtained his undergraduate degree in Music. LaDella and Jim were married in August of 1960 and moved to Portland, OR. Jim enjoyed his music teacher and counselor career in Seaside, Silverton, Salem, Canby, Eugene, and Portland, Oregon. Tamra (1962) and Todd (1964) were born in Portland, OR, but the family made their home in Seaside, OR. Jim's next teaching job brought them to Silverton, OR, where they lived for 53 years. He started teaching Kindergarten-8th grade music, never having had a music room. He taught from a music cart and went classroom to classroom. Jim chose to work additional jobs each summer, so LaDella could stay home and raise Tami and Todd. Some of his summer jobs included: Roth's IGA checker with his white shirt and green bow tie, a door-to-door salesman for the World Book Encyclopedia Company, many house painting jobs, and other assorted side jobs to help pay the bills. Jim was an avid golfer and belonged to the Evergreen Country Club Men's league, where he twice won the Men's league championship. Jim liked to golf so much that he would drop his family off at church on Sundays and head out to the golf course. When Todd was about 6 years old, he told his dad he was not going to church and wanted to golf with him instead. This bothered Jim; the following Sunday, he went to church with the family. One month later, he accepted Jesus as his Savior and repented of his sins at Silverton Friends Church, where they continued to attend for over 50 years. Jim coached T-ball and Little League Baseball with Todd for several years. When Todd was 8 and Tami was 9, Jim started coaching at Northwest Basketball Camp near Spokane, WA. Jim and family lived at the camp every summer, where Jim coached and led music for over 10 years. Todd attended basketball camp each summer, while LaDella and Tami worked on the kitchen crew. Todd, LaDella, and Jim had the opportunity to travel to Europe on an All-Star Basketball tour team with NBC Camp and returned just four days before Gary and Tami's wedding. Growing up, Jim enjoyed staying at his family's cabin on the lake at Crane Prairie, near Bend, OR, where he could do a lot of hunting and fishing. This led to his enjoyment of taking his own family back to Crane Prairie any chance he could, for camping, fishing, and hunting in our 14ft travel trailer. In Jim's "spare" time, he enjoyed working with Todd on an extensive stamp collection while growing up, and he himself had one of the largest and most organized coin collections around. Jim also enjoyed doing many jigsaw puzzles in person and online, loved Sudoku puzzles, and would spend hours on "word finds" in his later years. Jim enjoyed coaching junior high boys' and girls' basketball and started his long career of refereeing volleyball. Jim refereed volleyball for 44 years for the Oregon Schools Athletic Association. He had the privilege of refereeing many State High School state championships. While teaching Music in Silverton, Jim worked on and received his Master's degree in School Counseling from Oregon College of Education. He used his new degree to work at Salem Academy High School, teaching music and school counseling half-time each. He was also the men's varsity basketball coach for four years and had the privilege of coaching his son for two years. Tami cheered for them both on the sidelines! His next job was a school counselor at Canby High School for six years, where he coached varsity men's golf and freshman girls' basketball. After "retiring" from Canby High School, he took two part-time jobs in counseling at Portland Christian High School and Eugene Christian High School. He later served on the Board of Silverton Christian School, where LaDella was the school secretary of this newly formed school. Jim was the President of the Canby Community Concert Series for about fifteen years, and he and LaDella loved traveling to Nashville, TN, to vet and select the artists for each season. The concerts were a highlight, and Jim enjoyed inviting friends and family to attend. Jim and LaDella also enjoyed cruising and were blessed to take twenty different cruises worldwide. They most often traveled with their high school best friends and several friends from their church. In 2021, Jim and LaDella moved to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, to be near Todd and Cherith in their later years. Jim enjoyed watching their new home being built and lived with Todd and Cherith for nine months until their new home was completed. LaDella lived in their new home for nine months before moving to a care home, and Jim lived in his new home for three years before going home to Heaven. Jim was preceded in death by his mother and father, his only sibling, Joyce, and the love of his life for almost 64 years, LaDella Ann, who passed away in July of 2024, and her brothers, Jerry Smith (wife Dana) and Don Smith (wife Gayle). He is also survived by his brother-in-law, Art, and Joyce's children, Corby (wife Marcie) and Balinda, and their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his own children: Tamra Ann Walter (husband Gary) and Todd Robert Farmer (wife Cherith), and his grandchildren: Danielle Brandtjen (husband Keith), Jessica McSpadden (husband Jake), Kailia Gramlich (husband James), Joseph Farmer (fiance Shelbi), Jordan McLing (husband Spencer), and Joshua Farmer. Jim had also been thrilled to welcome his first two great-grandchildren this year, Berkley Rose McSpadden and Shai Calvin-Peter Brandtjen. Jim's memory will be cherished by all who knew him, and he will be greatly missed. . A private graveside service will be held for the immediate family. Words of encouragement may be left on the Fitzgerald Funeral Service obituary page, or cards may be sent to Todd's or Tami's address. Please reach out to the family for the address.

James A. Farmer

May 10, 1938 - September 17, 2025