To request a copy of this photo for your own personal use, please contact our state coordinator. If you are not a family member or the original photographer — please refrain from copying or distributing this photo to other websites.
Thank you for visiting the Arkansas Gravestone Photo Project. On this site you can upload gravestone photos, locate ancestors and perform genealogy research. If you have a relative buried in Arkansas, we encourage you to upload a digital image using our Submit a Photo page. Contributing to this genealogy archive helps family historians and genealogy researchers locate their relatives and complete their family tree.
Submitted: 7/10/18 • Approved: 10/15/19 • Last Updated: 6/27/23 • R1229776-G1229776-S3
A J
March 27, 1918 - October 14, 2008
Estelle
February 26, 1920 - February 22, 2006
*Obituary
Auborn Jerome “A.J.” McFarland, Jr., age 90, of Banks, AR., died Tuesday October 14, at Ouachita County Medical Center in Camden, AR. He was born March 27, 1918 in Banks, AR. a son of the late A.J. McFarland, Sr. and Hattie Mae Smith McFarland. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1939, and was assigned to the battleship U.S.S. West Virginia and served on that ship until December 7, 1941 when at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the ship was sunk during the Japanese surprise attack. A.J. was listed missing in action and the family was notified of this. Two weeks later, the family was informed he survived the attack and was well. A.J. spent the entire war on two other ships in the Pacific. He rose through the ranks and was honorably discharged from the Navy on July 1, 1945 as a Chief Pay Officer. After the war, A.J. came back home and married Thelma Estelle Wagnon on October 11, 1947 and the couple purchased a farm. On their farm, they tried subsistent farming, but by the late 1940’s always in search of a better paying job, A.J. became a structural ironworker. On an ironworkers wages and with Estelle pinching every penny, A.J. was able to provide well for his family. A.J. was on the cutting edge of pine tree farming in Arkansas. In 1958 and 1959 he converted his entire farm into a federally subsidized tree farm, now called the “Loblolly Plantation” and in 1984 he won State Tree Farmer of the Year. In another progressive move he helped establish The McFarland Hunting Club. Preceding him in death was his wife Estelle on February 20, 2006, brothers Curtis McFarland and Ernest McFarland. Survivors are 1 son Dr. Gale McFarland and spouse Wendy, Camden, AR. 1 brother Roy Herbert McFarland, Jefferson, TX. 4 sisters Christine Munford, Fordyce, AR., May Dean Sweatman, Banks, AR., Bobby Sue Whisenhunt, Fort. Smith, AR., Nelsie Bershen, Monroe, La. 5 grandsons Steven, Justin, Wesley, Travis and Jack McFarland. Funeral services were 2:00 p.m. Saturday October 18, at his home with Rev. Gary Martin and assisted by Rev. Roy Stringfellow Burial was with military honors in McFarland Cemetery at Banks, AR. Active pallbearers were Jim Andrews, Rick McFarland, Steve McFarland, Mike Steelman, Bill Wagnon, Nick Wagnon, Phillip Smith and Derwood Archer.
Contributed on 7/10/18 by debbraszymanski
Email This Contributor
Suggest a Correction
Record #: 1229776