Trending

Coronavirus: Kansas man writes emotional obit for dad, slams people who won’t wear masks

FORT SCOTT, Kan. — After his father died from the coronavirus this week, a Kansas man wrote a scathing obituary, criticizing residents who refused to wear a mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

>> Read more trending news

When 81-year-old Marvin James Farr, of Scott City, died Tuesday, his son, Courtney Farr, pulled no punches.

“He was preceded in death by more than 260,000 Americans infected with COVID-19,” Courtney Farr wrote in the obituary, published on the Price & Sons Funeral Homes website. “He died in a room not his own, being cared for by people dressed in confusing and frightening ways. He died with COVID-19, and his final days were harder, scarier and lonelier than necessary. He was not surrounded by friends and family.”

Courtney Farr went on to write that his father “died in a world where many of his fellow Americans refuse to wear a piece of cloth on their face to protect one another.”

Marvin Farr had been in isolation since Thanksgiving, according to a Facebook post by Courtney Farr.

My father Marvin passed away yesterday. I would like to share or post something positive about him, but the reality is...

Posted by Courtney Farr on Wednesday, December 2, 2020

According to data from the Scott County Health Department, five people in the county have died of COVID-19 and there have been 376 cases, The Kansas City Star reported. In Kansas, there have been 162,061 reported cases and 1,679 deaths statewide.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly issued two statewide mask orders since the pandemic began, but individual counties have the option of opting out, according to the Star.

Marvin Farr died after six days in isolation inside the Park Lane Nursing Home, The Washington Post reported.

In an interview with CNN on Friday night, Courtney Farr said the toughest part about his father’s death is that his loved ones could not be near.

“When my mother passed away about two years ago, I was able to sit with her ... and I was able to hold her hand and caress her face, I was able to be present with her,” Courtney Farr told the news network. “And I was able to comfort her the same way that she had comforted me so many times in my life.”

“With my father, we couldn’t do that, because he was in isolation.”

Courtney Farr said he often argued politics with his father, which made his obituary more poignant.

“I’ve spent most of this year hearing people from my hometown talk about how this disease isn’t real, isn’t that bad, only kills old people, masks don’t work, etc.,” Courtney Farr wrote on Facebook. “And because of the prevalence of those attitudes, my father’s death was so much harder on him, his family and his caregivers than it should have been. Which is why this obit is written as it is.”

Courtney Farr said he found it hard to believe that people continue to deny the existence of the pandemic.

“It’s unfathomable to me, it violates everything I feel like I learned growing up about decency and care for others,” Farr told CNN. “And those are lessons I learned from my father.”

In a separate Facebook post, Courtney Farr slammed people who said he was taking a political stance.

“The response is vastly positive, but I have seen a few negative comments, including claims that I made my father’s obituary political,” Courtney Farr wrote. “Well, his death was political.”

I should know better, but I looked at some of the public sharings of dad's obituary this afternoon. I'm honestly in...

Posted by Courtney Farr on Thursday, December 3, 2020

“I’m sure my father’s main complaint would be that he doesn’t have the chance to give you all his two cents,” he wrote. “I’m going to miss arguing with you, old man. I hope you’re in as much peace now as you are in this picture.”

A memorial will be held at a later date due to COVID-19, according to Marvin Farr’s obituary.

More coronavirus pandemic coverage:

>> Coronavirus: CDC acknowledges airborne transmission of COVID-19

>> Is it COVID-19, flu, cold or allergies? What is causing you to feel sick this year

>> Coronavirus: CDC updates guidance for COVID-19 testing

>> Dangerous hand sanitizer list up to more than 150 products, FDA announces

>> Wash your masks: How to clean a cloth face covering

>> Fact check: Will masks lower the oxygen level, raise the carbon dioxide in your blood?

>> How to not let coronavirus pandemic fatigue set in, battle back if it does