Terry “Tbone” Farquer died of COVID-19 on January 18, 2021. He was a storyteller, a writer, and a good friend to all (well, maybe most).
He was born Terry Fred Farquer to Evelyn and Lovette Farquer, Dahinda, Illinois, on October 29, 1949. He was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Sharon, and his brother-in-law Sam Fox. He married high school sweetheart Sharon Cooley at the Dahinda United Methodist Church on August 3, 1968. Together, they survived 52 years of blissful marriage, for which Sharon deserves a medal of honor. Sharon survives. Together they had 2 boys, Gene (Stephanie) of Metamora and Tim (Nadine) of Williamsfield. Tbone was a proud grandfather to Benjamin, Owen, Mackenzie, Olivia, and Cade.
He was a fourth generation Dahindian, growing up on the family homestead in the land of the smiling bullfrog. He loved to tell of his lineage to the great Fukawee Indian tribe. He was a 1967 graduate of Williamsfield High School, excelling in baseball and basketball.
He attended WIU, earning his Bachelor’s in Education in May of 1971. While at Western he participated in baseball his freshman year and played 2 years of basketball for the Leatherneck squad, alongside fellow Williamsfield grad Bob Anderson and Princeville great John Tanney. He liked to tell of his 1-on-1 basketball workout against Doug Collins, when Collins was being recruited by WIU. He claimed to have beaten Collins rather easily, with Collins famously choosing ISU shortly thereafter. He begrudgingly shared that Collins was only 5’11 at the time.
Upon graduating from college, he began a more than 30-year career as a heavy equipment operator for Local 649, working the last several with Tazewell County Blacktopping.
Along the way, he coached high school boys’ basketball at Williamsfield and Brimfield High Schools, coaching JV and assisting varsity coach Bob Anderson at Williamsfield, and serving as varsity head coach at Brimfield in the mid ‘80s. He served terms as varsity head baseball coach for both schools and ended his coaching career with 2 years as head men’s baseball coach at Carl Sandburg College.
Tbone was one of the founding members of the Laurel Greens Saturday Morning League, playing at the course from the year it opened until the day it closed. He was a long-time member of the Williamsfield Kickapoo Valley League baseball team. He loved to hit balls to the church in Kickapoo and toward the Illinois River in Kingston Mines. He was a long-time independent league basketball player in leagues at Trewyn, Churchill Junior High, Elmwood, and Williamsfield.
He was an avid outdoorsman from an early age, learning to identify birds by sight & sound, and animals by track & trail. He focused mainly on deer hunting, catfishing, and mushrooming as life went on. Tbone was a competitor by all accounts. He less liked to gamble, he more liked to win. He loved playing poker with friends. He loved taking their money even more. He was also a non-hipster aficionado of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.
He left his mark forever on the community of Williamsfield by leading the ball diamond construction effort during the building of the new school. He spent countless hours grading the areas where the baseball and softball fields still stand, ensuring the kids of the community a place to play ball for years to come.
He was a storyteller. He was a writer. He was always armed with a story or a smile for anyone in need. He loved his family. He loved his friends. But most of all, he loved life. And live life he did.
Memorials can be sent to the Williamsfield Schools Light the Field Fund. Services will be held at a date to be determined. Rux Funeral Home in Williamsfield is assisting the family with arrangements. Everyone who has a Tbone story or picture to share is encouraged to do so on The Life & Times of Terry “Tbone” Farquer Facebook page. Not into Facebook? Neither was Tbone. In that case, in the spirit of the Bone, look up Sharon Farquer’s address in a printed phone book and send her a handwritten note.
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