Farris Gene DeGraff was born September 3, 1939, in Smithfield (Twin Groves), Missouri. His Father was Farris Edgar DeGraff (1916-1976). He is survived by his mother, Brona Christine Wright Brown, who is a lively and fun 102 years old; his wife of 62 years, Anita Carol Bruce DeGraff; and a son, Gregg Steven DeGraff. His son, Thad Alan DeGraff, passed in 1981 and his stepfather Taylor John Brown, passed in 1998. He is survived by a brother, Lyle Lloyd Brown; sisters, Beverly Gale Brown Warner and Belinda Jane Brown Alford. Farris attended grade school in Smithfield, MO before his family moved to Wichita. He met Anita when they were teenagers working at Kiddieland amusement park and married in 1962.
Farris graduated from East High School and attended Wichita University. He graduated from Pittsburg State University and started his aviation career at Lear Jet in the Materials and Process lab. His experience led him to be Director of the Materials and Process group at Cessna Aircraft until he joined Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation in San Angelo, Texas as Quality Control Manager. He then moved back to Wichita and was responsible for the Quality Control Lab directing finishing and delivering Cessna Aircraft. In 1988, he moved to Little Rock, AR as Director of Completions for Dassault Falcon Jet Corporation. In 1998, he joined Dimension Aviation as Vice President General Manager in Goodyear, Arizona, responsible for taking DC10 aircraft and redesigning them to carry product for UPS delivery. He spent a few months in Fort Worth with Galaxy Aircraft in Fort Worth, Texas before retiring in Wichita.
Farris found he was within 25 miles of his favorite past time shooting craps at a casino. Anita called the Mulvane casino "the rabbit hole" and he found the best time to play was after midnight. One night, a new player asked him to explain the game and Farris gave him the odds on each play on the table. That earned him the name "the professor." He was well known on the turnpike, and one morning he stayed a little longer and when he paid at the toll booth, the attendant said "You're a little late, aren't you?" Farris told her his mother lived in Missouri. Covid ended his late-night craps fun, but he kept busy with the stock market on the computer.
April 7, an MRI showed a glioblastoma brain tumor and he had surgery on April 15, at St. Francis Hospital Wichita, KS. Farris transferred to Catholic Care Center in Bel Aire on May 7 for skilled nursing. The brain cancer returned and he spent his last week of life on the 8th floor of Harry Hynes Hospice at St. Francis Hospital. We feel the surgery and his excellent medical care gave us two months with him we would not have had. With the tumor came many stories he shared with the us and his nursing staff. We detailed them in the Farris Report Anita wrote every night to family and friends. Emily Dickenson wrote "Hope is a thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without words and never stops at all," We never lost hope. Farris told a story about a condor with black shiny feathers and we always knew there was a black shiny feather sitting in his soul and he never lost hope. We know he is now with Thad and his grandparents that have passed, and we celebrate his life and the love and joy he brought us. There will be a visitation with family present from 5-7 pm, Wednesday, June 12, at Broadway Mortuary, 1147 S. Broadway. Family will hold private graveside services. Share condolences at www.cozine.com. Services by Cozine Memorial Group-Broadway Mortuary.
Memorials have been established with:
Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice
313 S. Market St.
Wichita, KS 67202
Carl Junction Cemetery Association
P.O. Box 327
Carl Junction, MO 64834
