03/28/2024
The Troop mourns the loss of Honorary Quartermaster Sergeant Thomas L. Farley, Jr., No. 2333. Hon. QM Sgt. Farley was elected to the Active Roll on September 8, 1997, promoted to Corporal on October 5, 1998, Sergeant on June 7, 1999, and Quartermaster Sergeant on May 7, 2001. He was elected to the Non-Active Roll on October 1, 2007 and the Honorary Roll on October 2, 2017. He died on March 14, 2024.
To his memory!
Obituary:
“PHILADELPHIA, Pa. –Thomas L. Farley, Jr., 76, of Roxborough, Pa., died on March 14, 2024, at home, following a brief illness.
Born in Philadelphia and reared in Levittown, Pa., Mr. Farley attended Bishop Egan High School and Bucks County Community College before enlisting in the United States Army in 1967. Assigned to the 9th Infantry Division as a combat correspondent and photographer, Mr. Farley deployed to Vietnam in July 1967. While in Vietnam, Mr. Farley was awarded two Purple Hearts for wounds received in combat, and the Bronze Star with Valor following his actions in the Battle for Cholon, near Saigon, part of the 1968 Tet Campaign.
After returning from the war in 1969, he attended Temple University, where he studied English and Journalism. He subsequently married Margaret McErlane of Levittown, Pa. The marriage ended in divorce in 1982.
Farley began his civilian journalism career as a newspaper reporter for the Burlington County Times in New Jersey before joining the Chilton Book Company as a magazine editor. In 1973, while at Chilton, Mr. Farley won the American Business Press Association’s Jesse H. Neal Award, a national prize for excellence in business journalism. After winning the Neal Award, Mr. Farley worked as a writer and account manager for several major Philadelphia advertising agencies, including Aitken-Kynett, Inc., where he was Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Public Relations Division. In 1983, Mr. Farley founded his own advertising and public relations agency ultimately forming Farley & Roderick, Inc., a firm which shared in the success of the high technology marketing boom of the 1980s representing hundreds of clients including Commodore Business Machines, AT&T, and Okidata.
In addition to his advertising career, Mr. Farley continued his military service. Graduating Officer Candidate School in 1974, Mr. Farley was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the New Jersey National Guard in 1975. In 1978, he transferred to the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, where he subsequently was promoted to Captain and assumed command of Troop C, 1st Squadron, 104th Cavalry. In 1991, Mr. Farley was called once again to active military duty during the Gulf War. In 1997, he resigned his commission and joined the historic First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, Troop A, 1st Squadron, 104th Cavalry, as a sergeant and served with that unit as a peacekeeper in Bosnia in both 2002 and 2003.
In 2005, Mr. Farley volunteered for duty in Iraq with Troop B, 1st Squadron, 104th Cavalry, deploying in July 2005 with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, to Ar Ramadi, which was then considered the most dangerous place on Earth. He was discharged upon his return at the age 60, ending an active and reserve military career that spanned 40 years.
Mr. Farley was predeceased by his father, Thomas Lee Farley Sr., his mother, Roseanna Theresa Farley (nee Gallagher) and brothers Walter Matthew Farley and Gerald Gerome Farley. He is survived by his wife, Cathleen Ann Herbert, of Roxborough, his sister, Susan Farley, his brother, Joseph Anthony Farley, and his four children: Jennifer Bolli, Thomas Farley III, Diana Farley, and Denise Farley and eight grandchildren: Maurina Hernandez, Thomas L. Farley IV, Madyson Bolli, Mya Farley, Arianna Floyd, Michael Bolli, Mackenzie Bolli and Liam Farley, all of whom reside in Bucks County, Pa. He is also survived by his great-grandchildren, Elliott Hernandez of Bucks County, Pa. and Amara Farley of Florida. Thomas L. Farley V, his third great-grandchild, will be born in Florida in June.
A viewing will take place on March 30, 2024, from 9:00am until 11am at Claire McIlvanie Mundy Funeral Home, 7384 Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa., 19128. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Tunnels To Towers Foundation which provides mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children.”
