Jacqueline Farley

Jacqueline Morgan Farley, a lifelong nurse and caregiver, passed away in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, on March 7, 2025, following complications of skin cancer.

Jacque, as she was known to family and friends, was the first person in her family to pursue higher education, earning her qualification as a Registered Nurse from a training program in Kansas City, Missouri. During her time there, she took an active role in the racial integration of the hospital system in the late 1950s and early 1960s. She also supported her husband's academic career as his secretary and transcriber, demonstrating her dedication to both professional and personal commitments.

Jacque went on to work as a surgical intensive care nurse, hospital house supervisor, and later in healthcare administration. She eventually led health services for the Potawatomi tribe in Shawnee, Oklahoma, overseeing child welfare, home health, and senior nutrition programs.

After moving with her family to Georgia in the mid-1980s, Jacque focused on senior care, working as a nursing home administrator and later as a state nursing home inspector. She was dedicated to ensuring that seniors received compassionate, consistent, and humane care, while also holding healthcare institutions accountable.

A constant throughout Jacque's work and personal life was her deep recognition of the inherent value and dignity of those without power, money, or status. Having grown up poor in rural Arkansas as the child of itinerant workers, she had a profound understanding of and empathy for people who were struggling. Rather than distancing herself from her humble beginnings, Jacque embraced them, using her experiences to guide her service to others. In her retirement years, she worked with the Pickens Baptist Association in west Alabama, distributing emergency funds and food pantry items, and helping to organize the Baptist Center Thrift Store charity. She lived out the Apostle Paul's admonition: "...do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves...look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." Jacque's life was marked by love embodied through service. One of her most cherished activities was personally assisting families in need by ensuring they had food, clothing, and other essentials, always treating them with kindness and respect.

Despite balancing the intense demands of work and raising four children, Jacque remained purposeful in her time and actions. She deeply valued the simple joys of life. In her final years, she focused even more on the things that brought her joy-flowers, birds, and the quiet beauty of still moments.

Jacque was preceded in death by her husband of 58 years, Gary E. Farley, and her brother, James Morgan. She is survived by her four children: Clarissa Farley, Daniel Farley, Amelia Nizynski (Edward), and Matthew Farley (Dominika); five grandchildren: Daniel Wade Lupton, Joshua Swaney, Anna Catherine Farley, Roman Farley, and Edmund Farley; and one great-grandchild, Kaiden Lupton.

Jacque will be remembered for her unwavering faith, kindness, dedication to service, and the profound impact she had on all who knew her.

A Celebration of Life service will be held in the hospitality suite at Evergreen Church in Bixby, OK on April 18, 2025, at 1:00 p.m. for friends and family. In late July, a memorial service will be held at Spring Hill Baptist Church in Pickensville, AL.