The Rev. Daniel H. Farley, 54, town of Buena Vista, the first pastor of St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church in southeastern Portage County, died unexpectedly Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011, at Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire.
A Funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church between Plover and Waupaca, with the Most Rev. William Patrick Callahan, bishop of La Crosse, presiding and the Rev. Al Jakubowski preaching the homily. A committal service with military rites will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Hope Cemetery in Chippewa Falls, with the Rev. William Felix presiding.
All memorials should be given to the St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish.
A reception of the body by the Rev. Paul Lippert will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday at St. Maximilian Kolbe, with visitation until 8 p.m. A rosary service with Deacon James Trzinski officiating will be held at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, and a vigil service with the Very Rev. Tom Lindner and Rev. Lippert officiating following.
Visitation will also be held at the church from 9 a.m. Thursday until the Mass.
Holly Funeral Home of Waupaca assisted the family with arrangements. Condolences may be offered online at www.hollyfuneralhome.com.
The Rev. Farley was born Sept. 18, 1957, in Chippewa Falls, a son of Eugene and Elvera (Lemke) Farley. He attended St. Charles Grade School and graduated from McDonell High School in 1976. He then graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, receiving a bachelor's degree in religious studies.
After graduation, he began a 17-year journey toward the priesthood. In 1984 he entered the Salesian Society, which is a religious order within the Catholic Church that specializes in outreach ministry to inner-city youth. He was assigned to the Los Angeles area, serving as a prison chaplain, high school religion teacher and a gang intervention specialist. In 1992, he left southern California and returned to the La Crosse Diocese, accepting a position of pastoral minister at St. Therese Parish in Rothschild. Following a year at St. Therese, Bishop John Paul accepted his application and sent him to the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, to continue his priesthood studies. He was ordained on June 27, 1998.
His first assignment was as parochial administrator of St. Joseph Parish at Altdorf and chaplain and religion instructor at Assumption High School in Wisconsin Rapids. In 1999 he was appointed as associate pastor of St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish in Rothschild and St. Agnes Parish in Weston; he also served as chaplain of young adult ministry for the Diocese of La Crosse. On June 8, 2000, the Rev. Farley was appointed pastor of St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in southeastern Portage County, where he served until his death.
In addition to his parish duties, he served as a chaplain with the U.S. Army, having served in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and again in Afghanistan from 2008, returning in 2009 to Walter Reed Hospital where he was diagnosed with ALS. He had attained the rank of major.
He was the founder of Retrouvaille in the La Crosse Diocese and was a frequent guest speaker on the "Inner Life" on Relevant Radio.
Survivors include his parents, Chippewa Falls; one sister, Sharon (Jeff) Martin, Eau Claire; and two brothers, Jeff (Terri), Sturgeon Bay, and Mark (Kathy), Eau Claire.