Patricia Louise Farley

Patricia “Pat” Farley, age 92, of Yankton, South Dakota, passed away on Friday, November 22, 2024.

Funeral services are 10:30 AM, on Wednesday, November 27, 2024 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Yankton with Reverend Jacob Bobby officiating. Burial will be in the Garden of Memories Cemetery in Yankton. Visitation is from 5:00 to 7:00 PM, on Tuesday, November 26 at the Wintz & Ray Funeral Home in Yankton with a prayer service at 7:00 PM. Visitation continues one hour prior to the funeral at the church.

Pallbearers are Laddie Novak, James Farley, Kyle Novak, Lucas Lammers, Adam Konken and Trenton Jordan.

Patricia Louise Van Epps was born on November 21, 1932 to Frank and Vera (Jacobs) Van Epps. She was the 4th out of 5 daughters born to Frank and Vera…she was her daddy’s Patty Lou. She went to Willowdale Country School, and then to Yankton High School, graduating in 1950. After graduation, she attended Mount Marty College for one year, earning her teaching degree and graduating in 1951. She would proceed to teach at different country schools in the area, being the only teacher at the schools and teaching grades 1st through 8th. 

During the summers, she would work at one of her daddy’s firework stands and while working in the summer of 1951, she met Jim, and the rest is history. James Farley and Patricia Van Epps were married on April 18, 1953. Pat would continue to teach until they started their family in December 1956. To their union were born three children: Michael James, Steven Wayne, and Joan Lynn. 

Pat and Jim celebrated their 71st wedding anniversary in April of this year and Pat reached her 92nd birthday the day before she passed. Only one-tenth of 1 percent of marriages last 70 years or more and our family was truly blessed to have this loving couple to look up to, learn from, and have in our lives for so long. Family was everything to Pat. She loved family reunions, grandkids’ activities, playing cards, and holidays spent together. 

Left to cherish her memory are her husband, Jim of Yankton; son, Steve of Salinas, CA; daughter, Joan (Laddie) Novak of Yankton; and sister, Margaret “Midge” O’Flaherty of Platteville, CO. She had eight loving grandchildren who will also miss her so much: Steve’s daughter, Jolene Alvarez of Covington, GA; Mike’s sons, James (Natasha) Farley of Farmington, NM and Brandyn Cooley-Farley of Cheyenne, WY; and Joan’s children: Krista (Adam) Konken of Harrisburg, SD, Kyle (Keshia Shelburg) Novak of Yankton, Luke Lammers of Fort Collins, CO, Victoria (Trenton) Jordan of Yankton, and Jenna Novak of Yankton; six great-grandchildren were lucky to have her in their lives: Audrey Farley, Khloe, Kaden, and Kamden Novak, Mirabella Lammers, and Malakai Konken; Jim’s siblings: George Farley and Janet (Steve) Haffner, all of Yankton; sister-in-law, Jackie Farley-Wolfe of Lincoln, NE; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Vera; son, Mike who passed in January of 2024; three sisters: Francis Sutton, Wilma Murro, and Wanda Welby; and brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law.