Russell Farrell

Russell Lynn "Tink" Farrell, 58 of Mount Zion died 3:59 pm. Monday (March 13, 2006) in Mt. Zion. Funeral service will be 11:00 am. Friday (March 17) at Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church. Visitation will be two hours before services at the church. Burial will be in Mt. Zion Cemetery. Memorials to the Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church 345 W. Main Mt. Zion, IL. 62549 Tanzyus-Logan Funeral Service is in charge of arrangements.

Lynn was born in November of 1947 in Decatur, Illinois, the son of Berry and Anna Belle Farrell of rural Mount Zion. He married Debbie Reynolds of Witt, Illinois in 1971. He graduated from Mt. Zion High School in 1965 and earned a technical degree in diesel mechanics from Canton Junior College in Canton, Illinois in 1967. Motors and machines were always a natural attraction - His inclination for "Tinkering" (taking things apart, figuring out how they work, and putting them back together again) earned him the nickname at a very early age. After college Lynn's tinkering habit turned professional when he worked for a time as a mechanic at Wheeler Implement Company in Mount Zion. Most turns of his mechanic's wrench, however, were made supporting his lifelong pursuit of farming and dairy farming in particular. He was dedicated to the family farm; old trucks, old tractors, acres of corn and beans, horses and ponies, what must have been about a million bales of hay and of course, Guernsey cows; at one point the farm was the last functioning dairy in Macon County. The success the family enjoyed showing Guernseys at various county and state fairs stands as a herdsman and Guernsey breeder; he was especially proud of the home-raised winners. Eventually lean returns forced him to give up the milking business (but not the cows), and he joined his father and brother for several years in St. Louis caring for Mr. Busch's Clydesdales at Grant's Farm. Later he became herdsman for Weidner Prairie Farm of Dalton City, Illinois where he continued to work until 2005. Lynn was a member of the American Guernsey Cattle Club and Illinois Guernsey Breeder's Association, where he served in several district offices. He was also the superintendent of the dairy department at the Decatur-Macon County Fair for many years.

Surviving are his wife, Debbie, of Decatur; son Rhett and his wife Lana of Champaign; mother Anna Belle of Mount Zion; brother Phil and his wife Carla of Lovington; and baby granddaughter Harper Delaney. He was preceded in death by his father Berry and sister Lou Anne. Lynn was a member of the Mount Zion Presbyterian Church.

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