John D. Farrington ’42

Tex died July 30, 2017, at a very young 97.

Tex was born June 11, 1920, in Kansas City, Mo. In 1938 his family moved to the Chicago area. He went east to the Lawrenceville School, where he earned the nickname “Tex.” He graduated from Princeton in 1942 with a degree  in economics. He then joined the Army, was shipped to the Pacific, and spent time in Manila and Okinawa. He was one of the first three Americans to enter Hiroshima and observe the devastation of the atomic bomb.

After the war Tex returned to Illinois and worked for Marshall Field & Co until he was called back for the Korean War. In 1952 he moved to New Jersey and joined Jiffy Manufacturing Co. He became president and traveled the world. In 1989 he made Hilton Head his permanent home. While there he put together a book on the wartime contributions of his Princeton classmates. Tex was a big fan of the stock market, and it supported his very strong philanthropy. He has left a legacy that will never be forgotten by those who knew and loved him.

Tex was predeceased by his wife of 45 years and the mother of his children, Elizabeth Bard; and his beloved second wife of 25 years, Harmony Garner. Surviving are his three children, John, Nancy, and Melinda; stepdaughter Linda; nine grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.