Reverend Peter Farmer
| Reverend Peter Farmer | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | August 10, 1922 Berkeley, California |
| January 22, 2007January 22, 2007 | |
| 🎓 Alma mater | Virginia Theological Seminary |
| 💼 Occupation | Priest of the Episcopal Church, School Headmaster |
Reverend Peter Farmer, also known as Father Farmer,[1] spent the vast majority of his life along the coast of Northern and Central California. Brief, though influential, interruptions to his California years punctuate his life, which had initially steered toward a career in law, but turned to the priesthood and to education after his time in the war.[2]
Early life
Born and raised in Berkeley, California, Peter Farmer attended schools there through his higher education at the University of California at Berkeley. Prior to completing his undergraduate studies, he enlisted in the Army and served as an officer in the Pacific during World War II. Originally intending to become a lawyer and join his father's firm in San Francisco, his experiences in the war influenced him to switch to the priesthood. When his military service was done, he took a second temporary sojourn from California in order to attend the Virginia Theological Seminary. It was during this time frame he married the woman with whom he would have five children and spend the rest of his life.[2]
Chronology of service
Graduated VTS in 1949
Ordained deacon 1949-02-25 by Bp. Karl Block
Ordained priest 1950-03-35 also by Bp. Karl Block
Vicar, St. Francis of Assisi, Novato, CA – 1949–1956
Chaplain, Laguna Honda Home Hospice, San Francisco, Ca – 1951–1956
Rector, Christ Church by the Sea, Colon, Panama – 1956–1959
Vicar, St. Dunstan’s, Carmel Valley, CA – 1959–1962
Associate, All Saints', Carmel, CA – 1961–1974
Headmaster, All Saints' Episcopal Day School, CA – 1961–1977
Vicar, St. Matthias, Seaside, CA – 1974–1984
Chaplain, the York School, Monterey CA – 1978–1988
Chaplain, the Bishop’s Ranch Conference Center, Healdsburg, CA – 1987–1989
Retired, 1988–2007
Associate priest of Shepherd by the Sea Episcopal/Lutheran Mission, Gualala, CA[3]
Ministry and teaching
Reverend Peter Farmer founded St. Francis' Church in Novato in 1949, a short drive north and across the Richmond bridge from Berkeley. After serving St. Francis' for seven years, he, his wife, and children moved to Panama where he became rector of Christ Church by the Sea. Three years later, the family returned to California, settling on the Monterey Peninsula, approximately two-and-a-half hours by car to the south of Father Farmer's childhood home. As an Associate at All Saints' Church in Carmel, Rev. Farmer helped found the Episcopal Church's mission in Big Sur, California while simultaneously serving as Vicar of the St. Dunstan's Mission in Carmel Valley. After organizing a church pilgrimage, holding multiple services with larger than expected congregations, and performing at least one wedding and multiple baptisms throughout 1960, the Episcopal Church's mission in Big Sur achieved Official Status and was dubbed the Santa Lucia Mission of All Saints' Parish, Carmel. Church records show Rev. James Peter Farmer acting as Vicar and paid a salary of $250 per month.[4]
The All Saints' Day School Years
According to the September 30, 1961 issue of the Monterey Peninsula Herald, and several advertisements in the same publication throughout the preceding summer months, a new school serving the area was founded, opening its first classes on September 5 of the same year. "A new Monterey Peninsula elementary school, the Bishop Kip School, is dedicated to the propositions that children deserve the best education that can be provided, that religious training is an integral part of education, and that learning is most effective in small classes permitting qualified and dedicated teachers to give each child individual attention. ... The faculty, headed by the Rev. Peter Farmer, A.B., B.D., as headmaster, includes..."[5]
Websites both for the All Saints' Episcopal Church in Carmel and the St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church in Carmel Valley name Father Farmer as the founding headmaster and refer to the school as All Saints' Day School, as it was renamed shortly after its founding. After moving from Pacific Grove into temporary quarters in Carmel, the school was gifted several acres of land on the site which it currently resides. Father Farmer and the All Saints' Church sexton, Val Chaney, "spent the summer of 1965 finding and laying salvaged pipe for an irrigation system to water grass for a playing field. They scavenged for desks and blackboards from the state Department of Education Surplus Depot in San Leandro." San Leandro, California lies ten minutes south of Rev. Farmer's birthplace in Berkeley.[1]
Father Farmer served as Headmaster of All Saints' School for sixteen years, from 1961 to 1977. At its founding there were four members of faculty and staff, including Farmer, eight first grade students, and five kindergarteners. As of June 2017, the school's website states the campus consists of 17 acres, enrolls 175 students in grades K-8, and has 30 faculty members.
York School and later years
After his time at All Saints' Day School, records indicate one final extended excursion outside of California for Father Farmer, where he spent a year at the Pendle Hill Quaker Center for Study and Contemplation in Pennsylvania.[1] He became Vicar of St. Matthias Parish in Seaside, just north of Carmel on Hwy 1 until 1978, when he joined the York School (California) in Monterey as a teacher and Chaplain, where he remained for ten years. Father Farmer eventually returned north, past Berkeley and over the bridge once again, to Healdsburg in Sonoma County, California, where he served as Chaplain of the Bishop Ranch Conference center. Records indicate he retired in 1988, but remained active, helping found the Shepherd By The Sea Episcopal-Lutheran Mission. As of August 2017, the Shepherd By The Sea website is active, with current copyright notices, and remains "dedicated to the memory of Fr. Peter Farmer."[6]
As of August 2017, the online guest book provided by Legacy.com with Rev. Peter Farmer's obituary remains viewable. It contains letters from several of his former students at All Saints' Day School and York School that offer insight into his years as an academic and spiritual teacher:
"He taught me Latin and led services as our school chaplain. He embodied kindness for us as students." – Ann Bartow
"I always remember All Saints Day School and the rides from you to school and back home." – Kimberly Cotello (Billado)
"One of my greatest memories during the years as a student at York School was with the Farmers. Both are true Saints, with more patience and care than most people we meet in a lifetime." – Jodi (Richter) Hayes[7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Howe, Kevin (January 17, 2007). "All Saints school founder dies". Monterey County Herald. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
I'll never forget Father Farmer walking down the hall...
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Rev. Peter Farmer Obituary". The Press Democrat. Retrieved August 1, 2017 – via Legacy.com.
- ↑ All information in this Chronology of Service section is from the Episcopal Clerical Directory 2007, provided to the author of this article on July 24, 2017, by the Virginia Theological Seminary Archivist of the Bishop Payne Library
- ↑ Barratt, Elizabeth. "parish archivist/historian". allsaintscarmel.org. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
Within three months, Fr. Farmer was a very busy man...
[permanent dead link] - ↑ Londahl, Evelyn (September 30, 1961). "Editor". Monterey Peninsula Herald. p. 9.
Bishop Kip School is Sponsored by Parishes
- ↑ "Shepherd By The Sea Episcopal-Lutheran Mission". sheperdbythesea.org. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
This site is dedicated to the memory of Fr. Peter Farmer
- ↑ Farmer, Peter. "Guest Book". legacy.com. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
External links
- www.allsaintscarmel.org[permanent dead link]
- www.saintdunstanschurch.org
- www.asds.org
- www.shepherdbythesea.org
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