Obituary of Deacon John E Farrell

Deacon John E. Farrell entered eternal life on March 14, 2024.

John attended Western New England University in Springfield, MA and received a BSBA majoring in accounting with minors in management and marketing.  An outstanding student, he was President of the student senate and senior class president.  He played baseball, football and ice hockey while attending college and played amateur ice hockey in a senior league ages 30-45, for the US traveling “C” team throughout Canada and the Everblades in Florida.

John began his career in accounting after graduating from Western New England University.  He was a Corporate Tax Manager for a Fortune 500 company, then spent seven years as a Corporate Controller and Financial Vice President of a New England Industrial Conglomerate.  He served three years as Financial Vice President of Florida Data Corporation, and was a founding partner and President of United Software Associates, Inc.  In 1982, John established Professional Software Associates, Inc. in Casselberry, Florida, which he managed until 1995.

John served eleven years as Director of The Daily Bread, a Melbourne, Florida-based soup kitchen offering social services, food pantry and distribution center. John worked tirelessly to build the organization from a former biker bar to a full-service, campus facility to help the hungry and homeless.  Diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer in 2017, John survived after a year of treatment.  However, God was not finished with him and his next challenge would be a start-up project called St. Stephen’s Way, a housing community for homeless working families, of which he became Executive Director in 2018.  He lived to see his hard work and dedication pay off with the completion of 40 homes and service center completed and ready for families April 2024.

John was the first of seven children born to Edward J. and Barbara (Exner) Farrell on September 23,1943, at Jefferson Barracks in St. Louis Missouri.  John is survived by his wife of 41 years, Leanna Smith Farrell; his children John Farrell Jr., Jeanne Farrell, (Luke) Smith, James Farrell (Andrea Massey), Dietrich Kolewe, Deland Kolewe, and Jennifer Kolewe, (Kevin Harris), fourteen grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren; numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, friends and colleagues.

John is survived by his brothers, Edward Jr. (Ruth), Robert (Diane) and Mark (Barbara); his sister, Barbara Lynn Farrell Fitzpatrick (Joseph); his sisters-in-law Helen Farrell, Sandra Ellarson and Pamela Smith.  He was predeceased by his parents; his brothers Richard and Paul Farrell; his brothers-in-law Jeffery M. Smith and Scott Ellarson and daughter-in-law, Tina Marie Kolewe.

John was a faithful communicant and an active member of Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in Indialantic, Florida since 1978.  After attending a weekend retreat, John immersed himself in several lay ministries, served on the Parish Council, and various parish committees too numerous to list.  John’s passion for evangelization was expressed through the men’s retreat program for which he recruited hundreds of men and served on twenty-six retreats along with Kairos prison retreats.  John was privileged to attend the Million Man March in Washington, D.C., a highlight of his life.  After six years of study, John was ordained a Permanent Deacon in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando, Florida in 2005.  He was assigned to serve the Faith Community of Holy Name of Jesus Church.  John loved administering the Sacrament of Baptism to children, but in truth, he loved serving the Lord in any capacity.

John was known for his loyalty, his wit, his humor and love for his family.  His favorite saying was, “There’s nothing like family.”  He loved his God and country.  He worked tirelessly to promote the plight of the homeless, hungry and disenfranchised in our community.  He spoke the truth from the pulpit regardless of offending the politically correct, which was his pet peeve.  He was a champion of the unborn.

John will be sorely missed by so many.  God surely greeted him, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” RIP, John.

In Lieu of flowers, please make donations to St. Stephens Way https://www.ssway.org/