Russell Farnham

Russell Clare Farnham, 84, of Homosassa, FL died on October 11, 2015 at HPH Hospice House in Lecanto, FL.  He was married first to Waltraut (Bogutzki) Farnham, his beloved wife of fifty-three years, who predeceased him in 2008.  Waltraut “Wally” was born and raised at Obergorpe, East Germany, whom he married December 14, 1953 in Wiesbaden, Germany.  He was third husband of his late second wife, Maria (Garcia) Carvajal Sabourin Farnham, a native of Havana, Cuba, whom he married 2009, she died 2011 after a brief marriage.

Russell was born in Billerica, MA on May 7, 1931, son of the late Donald Henry and Iva Clara (Longfellow) Farnham.  A native of Boston (Allston), Russell was a career Air Force veteran (1948-1971), serving during the Korean and Vietnam Wars, achieving a grade of Chief Master Sergeant (E9).  In addition to assignments at the Pentagon, Alaska, Germany and England, he served at several domestic bases (Bunker Hill AFB, Indiana, McGuire AFB, NJ, and Westover AFB, MA), also attending schools at Lackland AFB, San Antonio, TX and Lowry AFB, Denver, CO.  He managed AF recruiting activities in Easter Massachusetts and Rhode Island, supervising 23 recruiting offices and 53 recruiters (1961-1968).  He received the Air Force Commendation Medal for his outstanding recruiting performance, leading his New England Detachment tot the top position in his Recruiting Group.  He received the Meritorious Service Medal for his managerial performance as Wing Sergeant Major, 20 ^th Tactical Fighter Wing, (1968-1970), 3 ^rd Air Force, RAF Wethersfield, England, while supervising the morale and welfare of more than 2,500 airmen in a NATO assignment.

Upon his retirement, Russell served as a Veterans Job Representative for the State of Massachusetts, later becoming a successful salesman for Bruhnke & Silver, a Dun & Bradstreet company and owner of Southwest Corporate Collections, Phoenix, AZ.  He was a Board Certified Genealogist (1996-2006) and won a literary award of $1,000 from the Connecticut Society of Genealogists for his massive Farnham Genealogy (1999).  He also authored the first published Longfellow Genealogy (2002) of America, researching not only his mother’s ancestral roots, but the poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and thousands of Longfellows throughout America.  His numerous genealogical articles were published in New England and national journals and he was the author in internet articles for the New England Historic Genealogical Society website: Doing genealogical research in Maine .  He was a volunteer at the Family History Center, Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints, Lecanto, FL and former President of the Kensington Homeowners Association.

He is survived by step-son, Juan Carlos Carvajal of Beverly Hills, FL; his adopted son, Harald D. Farnham of Springvale, ME, granddaughter, Jessica Lynn (Farnham) Frary of Ashville, NC, his sisters, Marjorie May Seale, Framingham, MA, Martha Leigh Salvucci, Plymouth, MA, and many nieces and nephews.  He was predeceased by his brothers, Kenneth Longfellow Farnham, Richard Earle Farnham, Ralph Longfellow Farnham, and sisters, Dorothy Louise Farnham, Eleanor Iva (Farnham) Johansen Rock, and June Gertrude (Farnham) Hemstedt.

Interment with Military Honors will be at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 15, 2015 at the Massachusetts National Cemetery, Bourne, MA, next to his first wife. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston, MA or the Alzheimer’s Disease Research, 22512 Gateway Center Dr., Clarksburg, MD 20871 in memory of his first wife.  Heinz Funeral Home & Cremation, Inverness, FL.