Grace Ann (Williams) Farrington

Grace Ann Farrington

We lost our mother, sister, grandmother, aunt, great-grandmother, and friend, Grace Ann (Williams) Farrington, to a short battle with small cell lung cancer on February 17, 2024.

Grace was born in Buffalo, New York on August 23, 1935, to Carlos D. Williams and Helen F. (Hutchinson) Williams. She met the love of her life, Franklin D. Farrington, when he was a young newspaper boy. They officially dated later after Frank served for two years in the U.S. Army, and they married in 1955. Grace was married to Frank for 49 years until his death in 2004. The two of them traveled to Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio, where Frank received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering. While there, their first of three sons, Marc, was born on Grace’s 23rd birthday. Shortly after graduating, they moved to Tucson, Arizona where Frank received his master's degree, and while there, they had their second son, Eric. They then moved back to Ada where Frank began his professorship at Ohio Northern University. Once there, they then had their third son, Thomas. Grace then, as always, held the family together when they moved twice to West Lafayette, Indiana where Frank pursued his doctorate in Mechanical Engineering. She was invaluable to him, not only as his wife and mother to their children, but also as his muse, typist, and most of all, best friend.

In 1979, they moved to California to pursue further avenues and adventures. After Frank’s death, Grace moved to Sierra Vista to be near her son Eric and his family. Grace was active in PEO, Red Hat Society, and her bridge club. She was the very embodiment of her name, and loved by all for her kindness, sense of humor, and caring. Grace had many loved pets: dogs, cats, and the occasional critter brought home by her sons. She loved to travel and visit friends and family across the US from Alaska to Washington DC. Her dream of international travel was cut short, however, after Frank’s death.

Preceded in death by her husband Frank, her brother La Verne, and her parents, Grace is survived by sister Elsie, her three sons, Marc (Ann), Eric (Riza), and Thomas, and her grandchildren Aren, Christa, Danelle, Adam (Nichole), and Asa, and her three great-grandchildren from Adam and Nikki, Dylan, Owen, and Amelia.

She is very much missed.

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