Hoyt Farquhar was the product of an era when radios were a luxury and when teenage boys went to war after their parents ordered them to enlist. He was a tail gunner in World War II, a pilot and second lieutenant in the Korean War, and the commander of a combat wing in Vietnam.
He was raised on a dirt farm in Oklahoma, lived on the rim of Sand Mountain for much of his retirement, and spent his final years at a retirement village in Huntsville. Farquhar was 82 when he died Thursday at Highlands Medical Center in Scottsboro.
"He was a patriot," said John Banks, a retired Army colonel and a longtime friend. "He felt this country was a great country, and he was thankful for what it had done for him."
Farquhar was in the Air Force for 27 years, retiring in 1970 as a colonel.
After leaving the military, he moved to Montgomery where he was chief of planning and the assistant executive director of the Alabama Commission on Aging.
In 1979, he moved to Dutton in Jackson County and became a member of various volunteer organizations. He was perhaps best-known for his involvement with the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra. His participation with the symphony began around 1985, after he and his wife attended a concert.
After that, he sent a check," said Evelyn Loehrlein, the symphony's director of marketing and a flutist there for 30 years. "Everybody was flabbergasted. They had never gotten a gift like that before. It came out of the blue." His check - a sizable donation, as Loehrlein recalls - was a landmark. It was the first "major individual contribution to the symphony," she said. It changed the symphony's approach to fundraising, Loehrlein said. It also earned him a nickname among symphony leaders. "I called him the grandfather of major individual giving," Loehrlein said.
From there, Farquhar held various leadership positions with the symphony. First, he was a member of the board of trustees, then he was treasurer, then executive director.
He was executive director twice, from May 1989 to July 1990, then for five months in 1993.
"He was always there (as a community volunteer), and the symphony was at the top of his list," Banks said. "He knew how important it is to the community."
His interest in classical music began during his childhood in Oklahoma. "I would go to my grandparents' house as a child to listen to the radio because we did not have one," Farquhar told The Scottsboro Daily Sentinel for a story published in the mid-1990s. "I loved to listen to the NBC Radio Symphony."
After World War II, he was first sergeant with the Air Force Band, from 1946-48. But his love of classical music was only one of the reasons he became involved with the symphony.
Because he was a veteran of the military, because of his upbringing in dust-bowl Oklahoma, he also had a strong sense of duty, said Banks.
During World War II, he had survived after his plane had been shot down over Holland. During Vietnam, he had commanded and deployed the first wing of an AC-47 gunship known as "Puff The Magic Dragon."
But, in Banks' view, that sense of duty began on Dec. 7, 1941. "He had gone to town in a pickup," Banks said. "When he drove back to the farm, his parents were standing at the gate. They had walked down the road to catch him." When Farquhar pulled up to the gate of the farm, his parents gave him the news: The Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor.
"His parents told him, 'You're enlisting tomorrow,'" Banks said. "The next day, he went down to the post office and enlisted. Every generation is different, but that was really the greatest generation."
-- Published in the Huntsville Times on February 5, 2008
He was raised on a dirt farm in Oklahoma, lived on the rim of Sand Mountain for much of his retirement, and spent his final years at a retirement village in Huntsville. Farquhar was 82 when he died Thursday at Highlands Medical Center in Scottsboro.
"He was a patriot," said John Banks, a retired Army colonel and a longtime friend. "He felt this country was a great country, and he was thankful for what it had done for him."
Farquhar was in the Air Force for 27 years, retiring in 1970 as a colonel.
After leaving the military, he moved to Montgomery where he was chief of planning and the assistant executive director of the Alabama Commission on Aging.
In 1979, he moved to Dutton in Jackson County and became a member of various volunteer organizations. He was perhaps best-known for his involvement with the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra. His participation with the symphony began around 1985, after he and his wife attended a concert.
After that, he sent a check," said Evelyn Loehrlein, the symphony's director of marketing and a flutist there for 30 years. "Everybody was flabbergasted. They had never gotten a gift like that before. It came out of the blue." His check - a sizable donation, as Loehrlein recalls - was a landmark. It was the first "major individual contribution to the symphony," she said. It changed the symphony's approach to fundraising, Loehrlein said. It also earned him a nickname among symphony leaders. "I called him the grandfather of major individual giving," Loehrlein said.
From there, Farquhar held various leadership positions with the symphony. First, he was a member of the board of trustees, then he was treasurer, then executive director.
He was executive director twice, from May 1989 to July 1990, then for five months in 1993.
"He was always there (as a community volunteer), and the symphony was at the top of his list," Banks said. "He knew how important it is to the community."
His interest in classical music began during his childhood in Oklahoma. "I would go to my grandparents' house as a child to listen to the radio because we did not have one," Farquhar told The Scottsboro Daily Sentinel for a story published in the mid-1990s. "I loved to listen to the NBC Radio Symphony."
After World War II, he was first sergeant with the Air Force Band, from 1946-48. But his love of classical music was only one of the reasons he became involved with the symphony.
Because he was a veteran of the military, because of his upbringing in dust-bowl Oklahoma, he also had a strong sense of duty, said Banks.
During World War II, he had survived after his plane had been shot down over Holland. During Vietnam, he had commanded and deployed the first wing of an AC-47 gunship known as "Puff The Magic Dragon."
But, in Banks' view, that sense of duty began on Dec. 7, 1941. "He had gone to town in a pickup," Banks said. "When he drove back to the farm, his parents were standing at the gate. They had walked down the road to catch him." When Farquhar pulled up to the gate of the farm, his parents gave him the news: The Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor.
"His parents told him, 'You're enlisting tomorrow,'" Banks said. "The next day, he went down to the post office and enlisted. Every generation is different, but that was really the greatest generation."
-- Published in the Huntsville Times on February 5, 2008
Hoyt Farquhar was the product of an era when radios were a luxury and when teenage boys went to war after their parents ordered them to enlist. He was a tail gunner in World War II, a pilot and second lieutenant in the Korean War, and the commander of a combat wing in Vietnam.
He was raised on a dirt farm in Oklahoma, lived on the rim of Sand Mountain for much of his retirement, and spent his final years at a retirement village in Huntsville. Farquhar was 82 when he died Thursday at Highlands Medical Center in Scottsboro.
"He was a patriot," said John Banks, a retired Army colonel and a longtime friend. "He felt this country was a great country, and he was thankful for what it had done for him."
Farquhar was in the Air Force for 27 years, retiring in 1970 as a colonel.
After leaving the military, he moved to Montgomery where he was chief of planning and the assistant executive director of the Alabama Commission on Aging.
In 1979, he moved to Dutton in Jackson County and became a member of various volunteer organizations. He was perhaps best-known for his involvement with the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra. His participation with the symphony began around 1985, after he and his wife attended a concert.
After that, he sent a check," said Evelyn Loehrlein, the symphony's director of marketing and a flutist there for 30 years. "Everybody was flabbergasted. They had never gotten a gift like that before. It came out of the blue." His check - a sizable donation, as Loehrlein recalls - was a landmark. It was the first "major individual contribution to the symphony," she said. It changed the symphony's approach to fundraising, Loehrlein said. It also earned him a nickname among symphony leaders. "I called him the grandfather of major individual giving," Loehrlein said.
From there, Farquhar held various leadership positions with the symphony. First, he was a member of the board of trustees, then he was treasurer, then executive director.
He was executive director twice, from May 1989 to July 1990, then for five months in 1993.
"He was always there (as a community volunteer), and the symphony was at the top of his list," Banks said. "He knew how important it is to the community."
His interest in classical music began during his childhood in Oklahoma. "I would go to my grandparents' house as a child to listen to the radio because we did not have one," Farquhar told The Scottsboro Daily Sentinel for a story published in the mid-1990s. "I loved to listen to the NBC Radio Symphony."
After World War II, he was first sergeant with the Air Force Band, from 1946-48. But his love of classical music was only one of the reasons he became involved with the symphony.
Because he was a veteran of the military, because of his upbringing in dust-bowl Oklahoma, he also had a strong sense of duty, said Banks.
During World War II, he had survived after his plane had been shot down over Holland. During Vietnam, he had commanded and deployed the first wing of an AC-47 gunship known as "Puff The Magic Dragon."
But, in Banks' view, that sense of duty began on Dec. 7, 1941. "He had gone to town in a pickup," Banks said. "When he drove back to the farm, his parents were standing at the gate. They had walked down the road to catch him." When Farquhar pulled up to the gate of the farm, his parents gave him the news: The Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor.
"His parents told him, 'You're enlisting tomorrow,'" Banks said. "The next day, he went down to the post office and enlisted. Every generation is different, but that was really the greatest generation."
-- Published in the Huntsville Times on February 5, 2008
He was raised on a dirt farm in Oklahoma, lived on the rim of Sand Mountain for much of his retirement, and spent his final years at a retirement village in Huntsville. Farquhar was 82 when he died Thursday at Highlands Medical Center in Scottsboro.
"He was a patriot," said John Banks, a retired Army colonel and a longtime friend. "He felt this country was a great country, and he was thankful for what it had done for him."
Farquhar was in the Air Force for 27 years, retiring in 1970 as a colonel.
After leaving the military, he moved to Montgomery where he was chief of planning and the assistant executive director of the Alabama Commission on Aging.
In 1979, he moved to Dutton in Jackson County and became a member of various volunteer organizations. He was perhaps best-known for his involvement with the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra. His participation with the symphony began around 1985, after he and his wife attended a concert.
After that, he sent a check," said Evelyn Loehrlein, the symphony's director of marketing and a flutist there for 30 years. "Everybody was flabbergasted. They had never gotten a gift like that before. It came out of the blue." His check - a sizable donation, as Loehrlein recalls - was a landmark. It was the first "major individual contribution to the symphony," she said. It changed the symphony's approach to fundraising, Loehrlein said. It also earned him a nickname among symphony leaders. "I called him the grandfather of major individual giving," Loehrlein said.
From there, Farquhar held various leadership positions with the symphony. First, he was a member of the board of trustees, then he was treasurer, then executive director.
He was executive director twice, from May 1989 to July 1990, then for five months in 1993.
"He was always there (as a community volunteer), and the symphony was at the top of his list," Banks said. "He knew how important it is to the community."
His interest in classical music began during his childhood in Oklahoma. "I would go to my grandparents' house as a child to listen to the radio because we did not have one," Farquhar told The Scottsboro Daily Sentinel for a story published in the mid-1990s. "I loved to listen to the NBC Radio Symphony."
After World War II, he was first sergeant with the Air Force Band, from 1946-48. But his love of classical music was only one of the reasons he became involved with the symphony.
Because he was a veteran of the military, because of his upbringing in dust-bowl Oklahoma, he also had a strong sense of duty, said Banks.
During World War II, he had survived after his plane had been shot down over Holland. During Vietnam, he had commanded and deployed the first wing of an AC-47 gunship known as "Puff The Magic Dragon."
But, in Banks' view, that sense of duty began on Dec. 7, 1941. "He had gone to town in a pickup," Banks said. "When he drove back to the farm, his parents were standing at the gate. They had walked down the road to catch him." When Farquhar pulled up to the gate of the farm, his parents gave him the news: The Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor.
"His parents told him, 'You're enlisting tomorrow,'" Banks said. "The next day, he went down to the post office and enlisted. Every generation is different, but that was really the greatest generation."
-- Published in the Huntsville Times on February 5, 2008
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