James Farris

James Scott Farris, Scotty was called home by his Lord at the age of 75 on May 19th, 2013.

Farris was born December 4, 1937 in Duncan, Oklahoma to Floyd Scott Farris and Julia Ester Farris.

Farris and his mother Julia later moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where he spent his teenage years. His mother often told the story of coming home to find her son and his friends rounding up snakes. One day, he caught one inbetween the front door and the screen door. Julia was surprised to later learn that not only was the snake poisonous, it was also long enough to catch the interest of the Albuquerque Zoo, where it lived out its remaining years.

Farris joined the United States Air Force in 1955, attending Officers Candidate School and rising to the rank of Major, serving as Chief of Maintenance for the 2165th Communications Group in Taipei, Taiwan.

During his service to our country, Farris specialized in intelligence, security and telecommunications.

His work took him all over the world including Denmark, the Netherlands, Scotland, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Crete, Canada, Japan, Germany, Iran, Turkey, Taiwan, the Philippine Islands, South Vietnam, Guam and the Midway Islands. He became fluent in many of the languages of his host countries.

One of the highlights of his career was serving as an aide to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger during the Paris peace talks.

After he retired from the Air Force, he moved his family to Roswell, New Mexico and spent time as a top sales agent for State Farm Insurance.

Farris joined the ranks of the Roswell Police Department as a patrolman, but quickly was promoted to Detective. His biggest case stayed with him all of his life: the abduction and murder of Dena Lynn Gore of Artesia. He was instrumental in bringing Terry Clark to justice.

While with the department, Farris and several of his fellow law enforcement officers invented a stateoftheart metal protection formula for firearms known as GuardaKoat.

Farris rounded out his law enforcement career working as an investigator for the Chaves County District Attorney, the Lea County office of Probation and Parole and the Chaves County Public Defenders office.

He also shared his vast knowledge in the fields of homicide, child sexual abuse, criminal investigation and law enforcement selfdefense tactics by lecturing at ENMU and for community professionals.

Throughout his life, Farris was an avid golfer, winning many tournaments, and, in his later years, priding himself on winning more golf balls than he could ever hit.

Farris was preceded in death by his father, Floyd Scott Farris, his mother, Julia Ferrand, and stepfather, Earl Ferrand.

He is survived by his former wives, Sharon Farris Stern of Scottsdale, Arizona, Renee Pifer of Roswell, New Mexico and Mary Ayers of Portales, New Mexico.

Farris leaves behind three children, James Scott Farris Jr. of Portales, New Mexico, Jacqueline Michele Farris of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Lexis Danielle Farris of Roswell, New Mexico.

He is also survived by his aunt, Mary Swickard of White Rock, New Mexico, and sister, Linda Farris Parker of Bethany, Oklahoma.

A memorial service will be held Thursday May 23rd at 10:30 at Ballard Funeral Home in Roswell, New Mexico.

He will be laid to rest at Santa Fe National Cemetery with full military honors.

In lieu of flowers the family asks friends to donate to the Disabled American Veterans Fund, PO Box 14301, Cincinnati, OH 452500301.

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