Frederick Sharon Farr (August 2, 1910 – June 10, 1997) was an American politician who served in the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. ...

for the 25th district from 1955 to 1967. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, he authored the bills SB 118, which established the California Commercial Code, and SD 2007, which authorized California to purchase

Asilomar State Beach Asilomar State Beach, officially Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds State Park, is a state park unit of California, United States. It provides public access to rocky coast and dune habitat on the Monterey Peninsula. The property includ ...

. He is the father of

Sam Farr Samuel Sharon Farr (born July 4, 1941) is an American politician who was the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for California's 17th congressional district, California's 17th (1993–2013) and California's 20th congre ...

, who served as a member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from 1993 to 2017.

Early life and education

Farr was born in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

on August 2, 1910, to Harry St. Laurence Farr and Blanche Virginia Sharon, being raised in the neighboring city of

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

with his brother William Sharon Farr. He attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, studying at the university's

School of Law A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for bec ...

and graduating in 1935. He worked for the Legal Aid Society of San Francisco, then being hired by the

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 1950. The co ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and later working for the Port of New York.

Political career

In 1954, Farr ran for

State Assembly State Assembly is the name given to various legislatures, especially lower houses or full legislatures in states in federal systems of government. Channel Islands States Assembly is the name of the legislature of the Bailiwick of Jersey. The Baili ...

in the 34th district, but lost to Alan G. Pattee. The next year, he ran for the

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

in the 25th district, as a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

had been called due to the death of Frederick Weybret. He defeated former

Speaker of the Assembly Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

James W. Silliman and became the first Democratic member for the district since 1921. As a state senator, Farr was known as a conservationist, helping create the scenic highway system and helped create legislation that allowed cities and counties to get

conservation easement In the United States, a conservation easement (also called conservation covenant, conservation restriction or conservation servitude) is a power invested in a qualified land conservation organization called a "land trust", or a governmental (muni ...

s and helped push legislation that created the

Older Americans Act The Older Americans Act of 1965 (, ) was the first federal level initiative aimed at providing comprehensive services for older adults. It created the National Aging Network comprising the Administration on Aging on the federal level, State Unit ...

. In 1966, he was redistricted to the 17th district and ran for re-election, but lost to Donald L. Grunsky. He then ran for State Assembly for the 34th district in 1969 after the death of Pattee, his opponent in the 1954 election, but he lost to Bob Wood.

Personal life

Farr married Janet Emerson Haskins on May 14, 1938, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and with her, they had three children: Sam, Francesca, and Nancy. In 1965, Janet passed away from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

and in that same year, Nancy died after being thrown from a horse and suffering from blunt head trauma while in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. On June 28, 1970, Francesca married Prescott Sheldon Bush III, a member of the

Bush family The Bush family is an American political family that has played a prominent role in American politics since the 1950s, foremost as the first family of the United States from 1989 to 1993 and again from 2001 to 2009, during the respective preside ...

. In 1992, Sam was elected to the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

and later elected to the

in 1993. Farr died on June 10, 1997, in his home in

Carmel, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), commonly known simply as Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, located on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 3,220, down from 3,722 a ...

after suffering from a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

complicated by

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

References

External links

JoinCalifornia biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farr, Fred 1910 births 1997 deaths Democratic Party California state senators University of California, Berkeley alumni Politicians from Oakland, California People from Piedmont, California Politicians from Carmel-by-the-Sea, California 20th-century members of the California State Legislature