Mike Farler- A loving Husband, Father, and Poppy

My name is Anthony Farler and I’m raising money for my mom to help cover her bills due to the sudden passing of my dad, Mike Farler. My dad has been struggling with Type-I diabetes for 40 years and he’s suffered numerous complications due to this disease. On December 18th, he passed in his home while the paramedics tried to bring him back to us.

Mike Farler was an amazing man. He was a true friend as evidenced by the numerous lifelong friendships he forged. He was my hero and the husband and father I have aspired to be. He was the most loving Poppy to his four granddaughters who were easily the most precious things to him. Most importantly, Mike Farler was my mother’s partner in life and her best friend. Their love for one another was apparent to everyone and their relationship a model on which I base my own. His passing has left my mother utterly and completely heartbroken. 

In the wake of this unimaginable tragedy, we now have to navigate a world without his help. My dad was a giver even when he had nothing to give. He worked harder than anyone I’ve ever met to put food on the table and clothes on our backs. He came home from work and took care of our mom, who broke her back in a car accident so badly she lived with titanium screws keeping her spine together and terrible pain from something as innocent as a hug. He had to work harder when she couldn’t and accepted a future with a nearly disabled wife who could only help with the little disability benefits she received. After working full-time and over-time for decades, being a caregiver and sometimes the only parent we had that night, and doing it all while battling his own disease, he was forced to retire early and accept disability benefits himself due to his declining health. Now they were both on fixed incomes with their only hope for a stable future being the hope that dad could fight his disease as long as needed. That hope was shattered a week before Christmas. 

I decided to start this campaign because I want to help my mother stay in the house my father built for as long as she can. And when I say he built it I mean his uncles helped him raise the walls. His dad helped him run the wiring. He built our home and he was our home. That was almost 30 years ago but decade after decade of medical bills had forced my family to remortgage the house to stay afloat and as it stands my mother still has over 10 years left. It’s not clear yet how long she can manage it but she can’t leave his house behind, not yet. My greatest hope is that this campaign can help her keep the house on her fixed income alone, but if it can help her get by for even a year I will be eternally grateful. Thank you.