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On Monday, August 29, 2022, Mary Jo (Dunbar) Farrar passed away in her sleep at the age of 88. She was predeceased by her father and mother, John and Clara Dunbar, husband Ralph Farrar and Son Kirk Farrar. Mary Jo was born in Hebron, NE and grew up in Lincoln, NE. She met the love of her life Ralph, in college, and graduated from Nebr. Wesleyan University. Mary Jo was very active in the Ames community, instilling the love of education, honesty and humility mixed with self-determination, while raising her three sons by example and sometimes a wooden ruler.

Mary Jo worked outside of the home at an Ames gift shop and as a teller at a local bank. She combined her love of world travel with Ralph, as well as helping others. She enjoyed shopping for the sake of shopping and collecting antiques. Being a member of First United Methodist Church of Ames gave her the opportunity to help others in many ways, in the kitchen and serving coffee in addition to ushering, playing the piano and practicing her love of talking to anyone while making them feel comfortable.

Of course mentioning a sport event to Mary Jo would immediately bring the conversation around to Iowa State or Ames High School games. She loved being a spectator with her friends, afterwards relating those occasions where a referee got it wrong.

After raising her sons Kirk, Kelley (Kim) and Kris (Jennifer), Mary Jo earned downtime, where she took up quilting, knitting and reading occasionally sharing experiences with friends and neighbors over coffee. Mary Jo's two grandsons, Nathan and Sean (Sarah) blessed her with seven great grandchildren (Marvin, Aaliyah, Bozena, Ivan, Hunter, Micah, and Renee), which gave Mary Jo an even greater opportunity to broaden her shopping skills to ensure each child had exactly what was wanted.

Spending time with her brother Larry (Andrea) Dunbar, nephew Ross (Michelle) Dunbar, and niece Heather Dunbar enabled Mary Jo to travel and share stories from California to Cape Cod.

Services for Mary Jo will be at the First United Methodist Church 516 Kellogg, Ames, IA on Thursday, September 8, 2022. Visitation will start at noon, with a funeral service at 2:00 pm. Burial will be at the Ames Municipal Cemetery with a time for fellowship immediately following back at the church. Donations may be directed to the Ames Education Foundation (ameseducationfoundation.org) or to the Alzheimer's Association (alz.org)

Online condolences may be directed to www.grandonfuneralandcremationcare.com