{"id":49021,"date":"2018-07-27T14:29:40","date_gmt":"2018-07-27T18:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=49021"},"modified":"2025-09-30T10:19:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:19:29","slug":"the-late-david-farr-honoured-with-bench-installation","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/the-late-david-farr-honoured-with-bench-installation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Late David Farr, Admired Carleton Professor, Honoured with Bench Installation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n The Late David Farr, Admired Carleton Professor, Honoured with Bench Installation\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

The late David Farr, a widely admired Carleton University History professor who spent over 50 years on campus, passed away in October 2016 at age 93.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But his memory and contributions to the Carleton community continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farr has been honoured with a bench installed on campus, located on the pathway between Richcraft Hall and the Rideau River, cementing Farr\u2019s status as an eternal staple of Carleton University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe bench symbolizes more than anything David\u2019s devotion to Carleton,\u201d says Duncan McDowall<\/a>, a close friend and colleague of Farr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"David
David Farr (far left) at a gathering of the Carleton University Press in 1970<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Farr\u2019s life was a colourful and ample one \u2014 he was born and grew up in British Columbia in the 1920s. From there, he fought in the Second World War, studied at the University of British Columbia, the University of Toronto and Oxford University, and married Joan, his wife of 70 years. They had three children, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1947, just five years after Carleton was born, the budding historian came to the university\u2019s precursor, Carleton College, located on First Avenue. He spent 40 years teaching and researching on campus, focusing on colonial history, Canadian history and Canadian legal-political history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While at Carleton, Farr became the chair of the History Department<\/a>, dean of the Faculty of Arts and director of the former Paterson School of International Programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was a builder of Carleton,\u201d McDowall says.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n

David Farr Maintained a Strong Presence at Carleton<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Even after officially retiring in 1987, Farr maintained a strong presence on campus, a sort of \u201cwelcoming office on his own,\u201d says Dominique Marshall<\/a>, current chair of Carleton\u2019s History Department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was the most faithful retired colleague you can imagine,\u201d she adds. \u201cEvery time a new faculty member was hired, he would have lunch with them to chat about their interests, their work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McDowall first met Farr in a similar way \u2014 he arrived at Carleton in the 1970s to pursue a graduate degree in history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDavid would come by our office and ask what us graduate students were studying,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their friendship truly blossomed when McDowall chatted with Farr about his thesis on the Canadian steel industry, \u201cabout as distant from his research as you can get,\u201d McDowall says, but came back to his office a week later to find an envelope from Farr with information on the exact topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[History] is supposed to be about exploring and being curious and David was the epitome of that,\u201d he says. \u201cHe had a wonderful humanity to him \u2026 you felt a warmth from being around him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2002, Farr received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Carleton at Spring Convocation, where he gave a memorable address to graduates \u2013 passing on all the advice he had picked up on his journey through life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding Diverse Points of View<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Farr encouraged the graduates to try and understand other people\u2019s point of view, even if it is hard to swallow, and pushed the students to make their own path in life while recognizing the achievements and hard work of others. He also touted the importance of good communication and writing skills in any discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs you go out into the world remember Carleton, speak well of it and cherish it \u2026 you are inheritors of a proud tradition,\u201d he said in his speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of Farr\u2019s papers have been collected and are now stored in Carleton\u2019s Archives and Research Collections.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the last few years of his life, McDowall says Farr maintained his powerful sense of curiosity and inquisition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn their old age, some people get sour and cynical, but David never got like that,\u201d he says. \u201cHe was always reading, always questioning, always enjoying life. It was like knowing a 30-year-old in his 80s.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The late David Farr, a widely admired Carleton University History professor who spent over 50 years on campus, passed away in October 2016 at age 93. But his memory and contributions to the Carleton community continue. Farr has been honoured with a bench installed on campus, located on the pathway between Richcraft Hall and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":49024,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[28,25],"cu_story_tag":[],"class_list":["post-49021","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-community-partnerships","cu_story_type-student-experience"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/49021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/49021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97966,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/49021\/revisions\/97966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=49021"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=49021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}