Kauai County HI Archives Obituaries.....Farley, Joseph Kendal July 16, 1920
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The Garden Island, Lihue, Kauai, Tues., 7-20-1920
FARLEY, JOSEPH KENDAL
J. K. FARLEY PASSES AWAY.  In the passing of Joseph Kendal Farley who died Friday 
morning at his home in Koloa, Kauai loses a prominent and valued citizen who has 
been intimately associated with the life and growth of the island for the last 35 
years or more. He was born in 1858 at Ipswich, Mass., where his mother and sisters 
still live in the old ancestral home. He came to the Islands about 1882, remaining 
on Maui a year or two, and then came to Koloa where he took a position with the 
Smiths and where he has lived ever since. In 1900 he married Miss Juliet Smith who 
died two years later, and in 1916 he married Miss Gertrude Peper who survives him. 
He was made tax assessor for Kauai in 1888 and has held that position ever since -
- 32 years, with the exception of a few months during which E. Conant held it. The 
funeral service takes place at Koloa this afternoon, Rev. J. M. Lydgate, one of 
his oldest and closest friends, officiating. The ashes will be deposited in the 
little family cemetery under the old historic trees of the mission home, alongside 
of his first wife. Mr. Farley was in many ways an exceptional man such as one does 
not meet every day. Of old New England descent, he embodied in a remarkable degree 
the fine traditions that we read about but do not always find in that stock. He 
was a man of the most sterling and exacting integrity, scrupulous to the last 
fraction of a cent, and the last ounce of strength in every obligation or service 
that was due from him. And with this integrity, there was that methodical and 
painstaking accuracy which knew always just how everything stood and where 
everything could be found. For these reasons, as well as because of his industry 
and efficiency, he has been a very valuable man to the country during all these 
years and has been retained through all the changing administrations. And when, a 
couple weeks ago, he tendered his resignation, the governor would not hear of it -
- "He was too valuable a man to lose" -- and promptly set about arranging a 
vacation for him instead, including transportation to the coast, etc.  He was a 
man of fine instincts and high ideals to which he clung most tenaciously, even 
under the adverse circumstances of a meager life in humble surroundings. A few 
good friends, a few good books, the fine inspiration of high ideals, and an honest 
life -- these were the worthwhile things for him, and these were the things which 
kept him up where many a young man, in similar surroundings, slips down into the 
muck. He was in many ways a fine example of the old-time gentleman. He was 
generous to a fault, oftentimes far beyond his means. He was lavishly and most 
graciously hospitable, not only to his friends, but to every chance stranger who 
happened along, anxious even as a bachelor to continue the fine traditions of the 
old mission home which he assumed. He was courteous and chivalrous in the 
treatment of all who came to his door, and specially kindly and generous to the 
Hawaiians whom he looked on, in a way, as his wards and who owe him very many 
substantial favors. He was a public-spirited man and felt it his duty, in default 
of anyone else, to represent Koloa in public matters; and being willing, he was 
often called upon in this way, and he always gave careful and conscientious 
service. A great sufferer all his life, with seldom an hour free from pain or 
discomfort and seldom an unbroken night's sleep, he was the most cheerfully 
patient and uncomplaining man in the world no matter how sharply the lines of 
suffering showed in his face. To any solicitous inquiry as to how he was feeling 
today, it was always "pretty fair!" and then he was ready to take up the subject 
in hand, whatever it might be that you were interested in, as though his own 
feelings were neither here nor there. He had a fund of wit and humor that no 
amount of suffering seemingly could break down. No matter how "rocky" he might be 
feeling, he was ready with some happy gleam of wit or some odd turn of humor which 
would serve to disabuse your mind if you thought that he was sick. And there was a 
keenness and originality about this wit that would have done credit to the 
brightest mind in the very best of health. 


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