Hugh Farber was a soft-spoken man with a spine. I miss him.
He had a big heart and calloused hands when building his home on Lake Leelanau. Knowing that the lake would need tender loving care to sustain itself, he joined the Lake Leelanau Lake Association and was soon drafted to join the association’s board of directors.
I really don’t know a lot things about Hugh important to obituaries, so please don’t consider these scraps of words as some sort of epithet . I know little about his degrees or work other than to say he was extremely successful and hard working in his professional life.
My guess is that Hugh would scoff at such accolades. It’s the things he loved that gave him pride and an appreciation for life. That starts with his wife, Betty, the busiest person I know with the exception of my wife. Betty knows the mechanics of a good life — when doctor’s appointments come up and when medical bills have to be paid, where to look for the box of boat cleaning goop put away last fall, and probably the phone number of one of Hugh’s many fishing buddies that he’s been thinking about.
Hugh needed Betty like a car needs a road. And Betty needed Hugh like a window needs sunshine to fulfill its mission.
She worried endlessly when Hugh made his annual steelhead fishing trip to the tributaries of Lake Ontario, especially when his balance started slipping before his casting arm. But she knew he had to go. Geese come home in spring, and so did Hugh to a magic pool of spawning steelies.
Hugh and Betty raised three independent daughters who are also successful in life. As his health started failing, they all came back at various times to that house built by Hugh on the banks of south Lake Leelanau. It’s tough watching your parents struggle with age. They did well. Hugh appreciated them.
I really got to know Hugh when we were drawn to Kids Fishing Day, part of a force of volunteers hellbent to hook young people on the joy of reeling in bluegill. Now-deceased KFD chair Pete Taylor recruited us.
One year I wore the most God-awful ballcap with the head of a fish unfit to become a species protruding over the bill and its ugly tail crawling out the back. The next year Hugh miraculously found an even less-appealing fish cap, and every year after we’d complain about the other’s headgear.
Grumpy old men who deserved — and loved — each other.
I started taking Hugh to Leelanau Prospector meetings. He enjoyed the camaraderie and joined. We’d talk about fishing and my setter Holly and even politics in small doses. That’s how politics should be taken.
I asked him for his favorite fishing story on Lake Leelanau, and his reply is timely.
Hugh spotted several fish feeding on big Hex mayflies that were hatching across the lake. It was early morning. Through binoculars Hugh watched the big bugs shed their skins and fly toward heaven. It was their time.
Hugh hopped in his boat, flyrod in hand, and caught a mess of behemoth smallmouths. He’s the only Lake Leelanau fisherman I know to so fully take advantage of a hatch of bugs that most anglers bitch about.
Hugh and Betty had been staying at Effie’s Place in Leland for awhile before his health started to falter badly. My last visit with him was warm. He was still talking about visiting that Lake Ontario stream. I told him he would, and some day I would join him. We prayed a bit.
Deb and I were putting on our shoes on Tuesday, May 28, to visit Hugh one last time when I got a text from his daughter, Julie. Hugh had died that morning.
Leelanau County lost a gentle soul. Reporter’s note: A celebration of life for Hugh has been planned for 11 a.m. Saturday, June 29, at Leland Community United Methodist Church, A one-hour visitation will precede the service. Also, Kids Fishing Day will follow one day later. It’s scheduled for 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 30, at Veronica Valley County Park.
