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September 13, 2018This is the story of a Lawton denizen: a nun, a pianist, a music director, a teacher, a believer, a life-long learner, and a dear friend to many. When contacted for an interview, she was shocked.
“Why would you want to write a story about me? Why don’t you write a story about Jesus? I haven’t done a lot.”
Marjorie Farrell was born on Dec. 8, 1925, into a lively family from Dallas.
“Marjorie grew up during the Great Depression,” explained one of her long-time students and friend, Piere Mariano. “For entertainment, her family would sing and dance together, or they would listen to radio shows, and their family gatherings would include famous American musicians and dancers such as Martha Graham.”
Despite the distractions to fame and worldly success that surrounded her early life, Farrell responded to God’s call to be a religious sister.
“Every day at Noon,” Farrell recounted, “I would go around the corner to Blessed Sacrament Church and pray, and one day, I got some books on Saint Therese of Lisieux and Saint Theresa of Avila. And, I thought to myself, ‘I didn’t know you can love God like that.’ I loved God like I loved apple pie. I didn’t know he was a person!”
Farrell is grateful for her time in the community of the Sisters of Saint Mary of Namur where she received the most valuable training of her life.
“They gave me an education that my family was too poor to provide for me. They sent me to the American conservatory of music in Chicago for my bachelor’s degree and Indiana University of Bloomington for my master’s.”
After 20 years of being a nun, Farrell left religious life and moved to Lawton where she would spend the next 50 years teaching and playing music.
Bishop Edward Weisenburger, of Tucson, remembered Farrell moving to Lawton when he was young.
“I was in the third grade when my parents enrolled my younger sister and me in piano lessons with Marjorie. We had no idea at that time that the gracious lady I met with for 45 minutes every week would soon become one of my family’s most treasured friends.”
In addition to teaching individual and group piano lessons in her home off Gore Street, Farrell also taught at two big-name Lawton institutions: Cameron University and the Fort Sill Indian School.
“I just thought anything about Indians was interesting,” reminisced Farrell, “Looking back at it, I felt like it was my second degree.”
Amidst her busy schedule and the increasing contact she made with a number of musical artists (even outside of Lawton), Farrell always stayed close to the Catholic Church.
“I never for one minute thought I wouldn’t be Catholic. That’s so embedded in me.”
Farrell worked at both Blessed Sacrament and Holy Family in Lawton, giving of herself in generous service.
“I would give the pastor a notice of what I could do and always told him he could call on me.”
Farrell taught religious education and RCIA classes in addition to playing the organ and directing choirs in both churches.
Ultimately, her legacy has become a synthesis of her life of faith communicated through music.
“Music became a prayer of praise and thanksgiving,” Mariano reflected, “and not just an exercise of technical skill. Marjorie’s passion is her faith; music is a reflection of faith. She encouraged her students to become music evangelists whether playing music with other musicians, for audiences, or while practicing at home.”
“Music goes beyond speech,” echoed Farrell, “it touches something in everybody.”
Her example of faith has raised leaders in the Church.
“Marjorie’s deep Catholic faith was a real help to me in my own discernment related to seminary and priesthood,” Bishop Weisenburger said. “Her rich personal prayer life and witness to the importance of the Church in her daily life were constant sources of encouragement for me.”
“I don’t think I was holy enough,” Farrell said, “to want to teach anything more to people than piano.”
Farrell clearly elicits gratitude from the entire Lawton community.
“Marjorie is beloved amongst musicians and the community-at-large not only because she is an exceptional musician, but because she is a woman of faith and a strong advocate for the Arts in Lawton,” Mariano said. “As a grateful heart is the inspiration of Marjorie’s music, I would like to offer a simple prayer of thanksgiving for my friend and teacher, Marjorie Farrell.”
Farrell’s impact in the community extended past the piano. Bishop Weisenburger recognized that “friends like her don’t come along every day.”
Weisenburger added that Farrell represents a sign of God’s presence in his life, “reminding us that love and life – not death – are our destiny.”
In the end, Marjorie Farrell got the story about Jesus she wanted. It just happens to be her story too.
Zak Boazman is seminarian for the archdiocese and a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.
