Dr. Farney Was More Than a Strong Leader; He Was and Still Is a Great Friend
By Charles Breithaupt | Thursday, January 29, 2009 11:10 AM
I thought this would be an easy job. My task was to write an article about my boss, my mentor and my friend. Turns out it is most difficult to put in words all of the great memories from the past 17 years.
Dr. Bill Farney is retiring on Jan. 31, 2009. After a stellar 45-year career in education, 31 at the UIL — the last 14 as Executive Director, he has decided to hang up his spurs. He is well-deserving of whatever joys retirement can bring to him. But, I can’t let him ride away without a few words of appreciation and admiration.
Dr. Farney grew up in the Waco area and attended Chilton High School where he graduated as class valedictorian. He participated in a variety of UIL activities, including academic and athletic competition. He received a scholarship to Paris Junior College where he played both football and basketball. From there he went on to the University of Tulsa where he played football and graduated with a degree in English.
He began teaching and coaching football, basketball and track at Lorena High School and later went to Robinson as high school principal. He was eventually hired as superintendent at Crawford ISD. He was the youngest superintendent in the state at age 29. While at Crawford, he served as head football coach, head girls’ basketball coach and track coach. He won a state championship in girls’ basketball in 1975.
In 1977 he was hired at the UIL and served as Athletic Director and Assistant Director until he assumed the duties of Executive Director in March 1995.
Dr. Farney is a member of the Texas Girls Association’s Hall of Honor where he also served as state president. He was inducted into the Texas Basketball Hall of Honor in 2006. He has served on numerous National Federation committees including the NFHS Board of Directors.
His resume is easily documented and properly presented elsewhere. What is not readily available and public are the many great things he has done to make this world and the League a better place.
When I joined the League in 1992, little did I know that I would be cast into a world of excellence. Dr. Bailey Marshall, the UIL Director at that time, hired me to assist Dr. Farney in the athletic department. Dr. Marshall directed the League through very tumultuous times and his leadership style was needed and necessary for the League to exist.
I was surrounded by some of the most brilliant minds that could be gathered in one place. Dr. Marshall, Bonnie Northcutt, Richard Floyd, Treva Dayton and Bobby Hawthorne were a few who were exceptional. I learned much from them. But, Dr. Farney took it a step further. His ability to make the workplace fun and enjoyable helped to alleviate the stress that has often arisen because of some of the great conflicts we have faced.
Dr. Farney utilized his great people skills and took the League back to the membership. He saw a need to reach out to the member schools to check their pulse and see where the hot button topic resided. He took time to carefully listen to the issues facing school superintendents and made certain that our staff never ran ahead of what the schools desired.
Though he never micro-managed the staff, he was always available to assist with any sticky problem. His vast experience and expertise in dealing with issues regarding reclassification and realignment is one example of his great catalogue of resources.
He was most valuable when it came to legal issues. The numerous times we found ourselves in court were an opportunity for Dr. Farney to shine. It was as if he relished the role he played. Expertly guiding our attorneys through the process and presenting himself as an expert witness allowed the UIL to prevail in most cases against us.
Dealing with conflict was his forte. He could take an irate parent on the other end of a phone call and turn it into a family reunion. He could pacify the angriest of parents, simply by listening. He adeptly maneuvered us though several minefields of conflict especially when someone was displeased with some decision that had previously been made.
His graciousness in all of his dealings was easily apparent to all to whom he came in contact. No one left his presence feeling as if they had been disrespected. His care and concern for others was always paramount.
Oh, but I have seen him angry. He was not always a teddy bear. Any time someone would unfairly criticize a staff member or the UIL, or a rule that had been passed by the Legislative Council, he would react. And he would react in a manner leaving the critic understanding that he had crossed an invisible line.
After all reasoning had left the table in a conflict; Dr. Farney would always harken back to the rules. Always the rules. Because as he learned himself and taught each of us, the UIL Constitution and Contest Rules prevails over any self-interested opinion.
Our retiring Director will take with him a great legacy that places him alongside the previous five predecessors who have served the UIL over the last 99 years. His contributions to improving the processes and procedures of the UIL will be chronicled in history. What won’t be, are a variety of characteristics that simply make him unique.
Dr. Farney loves the color black. He loves black jackets, black shoes, black suits, black golf bags. Name an item and if he has it, he has it in black. He is a veritable Johnny Cash with his wardrobe.
He likes to tell goofy jokes and stories. They are often so silly they become hilarious. His delivery system is what makes the stories captivating. His ability to provide a punch line or a joke at the right moment has endeared him to many. While mostly corny, his jokes are often a hit, simply because of who is doing the telling.
His native intelligence has always been apparent. But, I have to tell you that he possesses more knowledge about the most useless information, known to man. It is as if he has a lifetime supply of the Encyclopedia Britannica and Readers Digest. You have a question? Want to know the capital of Djibouti? Bill Farney has the answer. Not in an intellectually superior way, but in a fun and often self-deprecating manner.
By nature he is curious. He will ask a hundred questions about an inane topic. He never stops with the obvious. He will continually dig, until that natural curiosity is satisfied.
If you travel with Dr. Farney as often as I have, you learn a few things about his personality. I can’t tell you how may times we left at 4 a.m. and returned at midnight so that we could save the UIL a few bucks on hotel rooms.
What I found on these trips is that Bill Farney is a great poet and also a singer. We did belt out some great tunes coming home from our excursions. “Trailers for sale or rent, rooms to let fifty cents, no phone, no pool no pets….King of the Road!”
We made several memorable trips together. A vacation to Scotland with our wives and our golf clubs! Not always a good combination, but this one worked. We went to events like the Final Four, a BCS Championship, the Rose Bowl, the Orange Bowl and points in between. At all of these places, Dr. Farney was always generous, kind and a lot of fun to hang out with.
Oh, by the way, wherever he goes he takes along a black bag. At first it was a brief case, now it is almost a suitcase. In this bag resides a wide array of items. If you need a toboggan of a pair of gloves on a cold day, he has you covered. Want a banana? How about an orange? Cheese crackers? Got it!
In fact his bag is his security blanket. Linus with a bag rather than a blanket. Once we drove to a national meeting in Little Rock. We were in a Suburban, so space was not an issue. We placed our luggage in the back (along with golf clubs, of course). Dr. Farney rode shotgun with his black bag in his lap the entire way. Can’t protest too much, the cheese crackers sure hit the spot!
Speaking of eating, we dined at a lot of hole-in-the wall cafes as we have traveled the back roads of Texas. Not only was the food great, but Dr. Farney always had a story to tell about the town or its football team. He usually picked up the check.
Everywhere we went, Bill Farney impacted people in a positive manner. He always had a kind word for a custodian or secretary. He generally over-tipped our waitresses. He took time to ask folks how they were doing. He let people know he cared about their lives.
These are only a few of the many great attributes I have witnessed during my 17 years working for a great man and outstanding leader. He has inspired me to be a better person. He has motivated me to be a better leader. He has shown me the best examples of generosity and unselfishness. He has shown me grace. He has taught me lessons that have become so in-grained; they have become part of my own ideology. He has been an instructor, a teacher, a guide and a respected leader. Most of all he has been a great friend.
Bill Farney is not perfect. He is always quick to point out his own flaws. Very few are evident to others. But, I for one have discovered one. For these past 17 years I have asked him the one question he has never been able to answer. It is a simple question. What is the difference between a river and a creek?
Happy retirement, Dr. Farney. It has been a great ride!