Earl Joseph Farley was born to Len and Gertie (Merrigan) Farley on July 18, 1924 on a farm south of Beresford. He died on Thursday, June 24, 2010 at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD at the age of 85 years, 11 months and 7 days after a long, hard fought battle.

Earl was a proud veteran having served as a Gunners Mate in the US Navy from 1944 to 1946 during WW II and as an Aircraft/Engineer Mechanic in the US Air Force from 1950 to 1954 during the Korean War. He married Lucy (Gemmill) Farley on November 30, 1954 at Mayfield, SD. They had nine children, 23 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

Earl worked for Lantaff Distributing in Beresford for 26 years. He then went to work at Sioux Steam Cleaners until retirement.

He is survived by his wife, Lucy Farley; children, Theresa (Marv) Kingma of Hawarden, IA, Shellie (Ralph) Delaney of Lennox, SD, Gene (Kelly) Farley of Sioux Falls, SD, Linda (Todd) Merrick and Mary (Neal) Barnes of Alcester, SD, Andrea (Kory) Knight of Hartford, SD and Tim "Butch" (Amy) Farley and Joanne (Brian) Cotton of Beresford, SD; grandchildren, Amy (Paul) Anema, Jeff (Kari) Kingma, Derek Farley, Melissa (Jesse) Voegeli, Miranda (Justin) Bunde, Caitlin (Nate) Stoltenburg, Fletcher and Flint Farley, Alex, Lance, and Levi Merrick, Jared and Emilee Barnes, Amanda (Shay) Kayser, Kylee and Landry Knight, Lucy, Annie and Bennett Farley, Tysen Holden and Hunter Cotton; great-grandchildren, Taylor, Samantha, and Jackson Anema; Ava and Michaela Kingma, Landon Voegeli, Phillip Delaney and Aiden and Owen Bunde. Also surviving is Earl's sister, Phyllis (Dave) Sibbernsen of Bennington, NE; a special nephew, Denny (Judy) Dennis of Ankeny, IA; niece, Mary Pat Farley of Bothell, Washington, and special caregiver and friend of Earl and Lucy, Angie Lyle.

He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Delmar and Gene Farley, sister, Lenore Dennis, his son Patrick Farley, and a grandson Joseph Delaney.

Funeral services will be at 2PM on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 at St. Teresa's Catholic Church followed by burial with military honors at the church cemetery. Visitation will be Monday from 2-5PM at Wass Funeral Home in Beresford continuing at the church from 6-8PM with a rosary at 7PM and prayer service at 7:15PM.