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Anonymous (not verified)

February 21, 2020

I am very sorry for the loss of your Father and your Husband. After 10 years of praying for John and his family I have finally found the courage to do a search and discovered that John has a beautiful family! We will continue to pray for you.

Posted by Patrica Gerity

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In Remembrance
Age:
41
Place of Residence:
Basking Ridge, NJ
Location on 9/11:
One WTC
Occupation:
Sandler O'Neil & Partners | Managing Director
Biography:

John W. Farrell would be exhausted after working long hours at Two World Trade Center but still find the energy to steal away weekends with his four children.

Meagan McDowell, Mr. Farrell's sister-in-law, said he would scoop up Kaitlin, 11, Patrick, 9, Molly, 5, and Colin, 3, and drive them to a family hotel so they could watch movies, enjoy room service and swim and lounge at the hotel pool.

The children would spend quality time with their dad while their mom spent quality time with a friend, McDowell said.

The Farrells loved to romp on the beach, and Mr. Farrell liked napping with his kids and taking them on errands, his sister-in-law said. She said he was so proud of his kids he held them with their faces outward.

Mr. Farrell, 41, was torn from his Basking Ridge family last month when a hijacked jetliner struck the South Tower, where he was working as a trader for Sandler O'Neil & Partners.

His friends and sister-in-law remember him as a warm person who enjoyed simple activities that bonded him to those he loved.

"Getting together at a picnic or a house party was John's idea of a good time," said friend Bob Kumpf of Bernards Township. "He would say: 'It doesn't get any better than this.'"

Mr. Farrell was born in New York in 1960 and raised in Gladstone. He attended Bernards High School, where he met his wife, Maryanne. The high school prom queen and king married in 1984.

The Farrells were deeply in love, said Bob Bush, a Mendham friend who served as best man. He remembers the Farrells embracing and dancing outside the church to Irish music. "He had a fantastic time because he loved his wife and family," Bush said.

Besides his wife and children, Mr. Farrell is survived by his parents, Michael and Dolores Farrell; two brothers, Michael and James; and two sisters, Nancy Platzer and Maureen Bertuch.