Thomas Bernard Farrell

Thomas Bernard Farrell, 78, of Cleveland, Missouri, passed away peacefully Sunday, March 20, 2022, surrounded by his loving family.

Tom was born on April 24, 1943, in East St. Louis, Illinois, to Bernard and Melba Farrell. As a young boy he lived in Wier, Kansas, but later moved to Liberal, Missouri, where his family owned the local telephone company.  As a kid, Tom worked with his 3 brothers doing manual labor for the phone company.  As he got older, he started doing the company books, and thus started his beloved career in accounting. He also had many stories of working summers bailing hay and raising livestock.  This work would fuel his love for owning land and raising cattle. Tom attended Rockhurst University, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Business in 1965.  After college he married his high school sweetheart, Linda (Brooks) Farrell, and moved to Independence, Missouri.  They later moved to Lenexa, Kansas, to continue his career and their growing family.  Every weekend the family would travel back to Liberal where he could be with family and tend to the land and cows he owned with his brothers.

In the early 80’s, he merged his accounting firm with Mize CPA’s in Overland Park, Kansas, where he was a tax partner for 40 years. He loved helping clients and became life-long friends with many of them.  He was a member of BKR, an international accounting group, and loved traveling to their meetings all over the world.

Tom was not only active in his work community, but his church community as well. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus since 1975.  While his 3 daughters attended Holy Trinity School, he was very active with the school and church. He remained a devote Catholic and was a member of Queen of the Holy Rosary - Wea, Bucyrus, Kansas, for the last 30 years.

Years after suffering the devastating loss of their beloved spouses, Tom and Dee Dee (West) Farrell began spending time at Table Rock Lake where they shared their mutual love for fishing and the outdoors.  They were married in 2007.  Dee Dee has spent countless hours at his side throughout his illness.

His friends and family would describe him as having a strong moral and ethical code and never shied away from hard work.  He was loyal, generous, and loved being a CPA.  He enjoyed raising cattle, British TV shows, and keeping his mind sharp with Sudoku.  He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife of 36 years, Linda, and his brother, Timothy Farrell.

In addition to his wife of 15 years, Dee Dee, he is survived by two brothers, Jim Farrell and John Farrell; three daughters, Theresa Shmidl and husband Tim, Gina Gilroy and husband Mark, and Jenny Kleinmann and husband Bill; and 7 grandchildren, Maddy (Shmidl) Knuth and husband Kyle, Morgan Shmidl, Lindsey Gilroy, Austin Gilroy, Andrew Gilroy, Lindy Kleinmann and Joseph Kleinmann.  He also had 10 nieces and nephews and 10 great nieces and nephews.

Services will be held Thursday, March 24, at Queen of the Holy Rosary - Wea, 22705 Metcalf Avenue, Bucyrus, Kansas 66013.  Rosary will be at 9:00 a.m., Visitation at 9:30 a.m. and Funeral Mass at 10:30 a.m.  Burial will be at 2:30 p.m. at Shiloh Cemetery in Liberal, Missouri.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Holy Rosary Wea Catholic School Scholarship Fund in the name of the Tom Farrell; 22705 Metcalf Avenue, Bucyrus, Kansas 66013.