Alexander James Farquhar, 1926 - 2008

FARQUHAR, Alexander James - Native of Brooklyn, Hants Co., son of the late Judge Hiram Smith Farquhar and Eva Mary Dimock, died at home in Halifax on Sunday, March 9, 2008, in his 82nd year. Married for 57 years, he leaves his beloved wife, Glennis; brother, Hugh (Claudette Derdaele); children, Alec (Kathleen McDonnell), James (Liliane Sayegh), Sarah (Randy Sutherland), Megan (David Graves), Donald (Kathryn Myers), Anaya (Donald Carrier), and Katherine (Robert Lalonde); 13 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; many cousins, nieces, nephews, in-laws and friends.
After first pursuing postgraduate study in physical education at Springfield College, Massachusetts, Alex felt and responded to a call to the ministry, enrolling at Pine Hill Divinity Hall, Halifax. While serving on a student mission field in rural Saskatchewan, he met Glennis Lamb, of Wawota, Sask., and they were subsequently married in 1950. After ordination in the United Church of Canada in 1951, Alex was called to a succession of pastorates in Nova Scotia (Lockeport, Baddeck, Sydney River, and St. Matthew's, Halifax), Ontario (First-St. Andrew's, London) and Quebec (St. Andrew's-Dominion Douglas, Westmount), before bringing his ministry to a close at Zion United Church, Liverpool, in 1991.
As a pastor, Alex was deeply devoted to his parishioners, serving them faithfully and with a profound sense of privilege. These words held a special significance for him: "The lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage" (Psalm 16:6). Alex represented the United Church in international events pertaining to the Reformed Wing of the World Church, including the 1961 Kirchentag in Berlin, the 1962 Japan Evangelism Project of the US National Council of Churches, and the 1970 dedication of the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC. As a member of the United Church Committee on Christian Faith, in 1968 Alex helped to craft the United Church Creed, and as a member of the Committee on Church Union in the 1970's, he participated in conversations then being held between the United Church and the Church of England. During the 1980s, Alex served as president of the Montreal Interfaith Task Force on the Liberation of Soviet Jewry.
Throughout his life, Alex was passionate about sports and during his early years, he was an outstanding varsity athlete who excelled at track, basketball and football. He was named captain of Dalhousie University's football team in 1945. His summers in youth were occupied with baseball, as he played with the Halifax St. Mary's softball and baseball teams (provincial runner-ups) and later with teams in Pictou, Lockeport, Shelburne, and Lampman, Sask. Alex coached the Lockeport High School girls' basketball team to two Nova Scotia championships in the early 1950s, and concluded his own athletic career in 1958 as a member of the Cape Breton All Stars Maritime Basketball Champions.
A funeral service will be held in Edgewood-Oxford United Church, 3055 Connaught Ave., Halifax, on Saturday, March 15, at 10 a.m., followed by a reception in Atlantic Funeral Home. A brief committal service will be held in Newport United Church, Brooklyn, Hants Co., the same afternoon at 3 p.m., prior to interment in Riverview Haven Cemetery. The visitation will be held in Atlantic Funeral Home, 6552 Bayers Rd., Halifax, on Friday, March 14, from 4-7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the church or charity of your choice, or to Dalhousie University (the Hiram and Eva Farquhar Bursary for students in the School of Social Work, or the Dr. James W. Reid Lectureship in Medical Humanities). Alex's family extends a heartfelt thanks to all who participated in his care, especially Dr. Gus Grant, Marie-Claire Chartrand, Barbara Stewart and the palliative care team. On-line condolences may be made at: www.atlanticfuneralhomes.com

Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, March 2008