Clarkridge resident Kathy Farris named to Baxter County Education Foundation’s Hall of Honor for her years of service


Clarkridge, Arkansas, resident Kathy Farris, recently named the 2020 Earnest Perry Retired Staff Honoree by the Baxter County Education Foundation, is shown here with her family. Seated, from left: Owen Kraft, Anna Kraft, Kathy Farris, Gerald Farris. First row, standing: Karley Farris, Addison Farris, Macy Farris, Graham Cullipher, Jeb Cullipher, Landon Perry, Misty Perry, Miles Foster, Amy Britt, Larissa Dihel, Lyndee Combs, Lacie Foster, Farris Foster, Moriah Combs and Kennedy Combs. Back: Nathan Farris, Hunter Perry, Granville Perry, Alexus Perry, Dylan Cullipher, Jake Britt.

Known for her cooking and baking skills, Kathy Farris has a tradition of baking birthday cakes for her grandchildren, including granddaughter Karley Farris, who was treated to a “Karlyn’s Garden” cake, complete with tiny carrots, tomatoes, pumpkins, peas and other vegetables and vining flowers “growing” on a trellis.

Kathy Farris shows her joy at holding great-grandchildren Farris and Miles Foster.

Clarkridge, Arkansas, resident Kathy Farris was recently named the 2020 Earnest Perry Retired Staff Honoree by the Baxter County (Arkansas) Education Foundation for her dedicated service to Mountain Home schools. The Hall of Honor induction ceremony, scheduled for last fall, wasn’t held due to the covid-19 pandemic, but the two 2020 honorees were named recently on the foundation’s website. 

Kathy was honored for her many years of work as a cook and cafeteria manager at Mountain Home High school. (The other Hall of Honor inductee was long-time fourth-grade teacher Billie Larson of Mountain Home.)

Kathy grew up in Clarkridge, the daughter of the late Roxie and Louie Crawford. She and her two brothers, Louis “Mayor” Crawford and Barney Crawford, have many cousins and other extended-family members in Ozark County, said Dr. Amy Britt, daughter of Kathy and her husband, Gerald. Britt is the superintendent of the Bakersfield School District.

“Mom has a really big family because her dad’s family was huge. Additionally, my dad, Gerald Farris, is the 14th of 15 kids,” Britt said in an email to the Times. 

Britt believes her dad may be one of the only surviving grandchildren of a Civil War veteran; Gerald’s dad was 69 when Gerald was born, “and my great-grandpa was about that age when my grandpa was born,” Britt said. 

Many of the couple’s extended family members have worked in construction for Gerald Farris, who has built close to 100 houses in Gainesville, Dora, Clarkridge and Mountain Home. 

After working many years for the Mountain Home schools, Kathy left the job to help her husband with his construction business, and later with their convenience store, AM&N, on Arkansas Highway 201 between Mountain Home and the state line.

“She would fix lunch for Dad’s crew every day,” Britt said. “If they were close, Dad would bring them to the house to eat, and if they were farther away, Mom would pack it up and take it to them.”

She remembers one friend and employee, Lonnie Uchtman, telling another guy, “If you ever get the chance to eat at Kathy’s, you better do it.” 

Kathy continued to cook at the convenience store, where many people from the Gainesville-Dora area stopped on their way to work or shop in Mountain Home. The store closed several years ago. 

Britt now lives on the Missouri state line on land that adjoins her parents’ property on the Arkansas side of the line.  

In her younger years, Kathy loved to fish at the lake. And in the summertime, she would often take her three children – Amy, Misty and Nathan – to the J Highway bridge over Lick Creek (replaced in 2019) to catch crawdads and play.

“As we got older, Mom would always have some sort of part- or full-time summer job. She delivered papers for  The Baxter Bulletin and also cooked at Scott Valley Dude Ranch,” Britt said.  

Kathy’s talents in the kitchen are well known, Britt said. “Everyone knows my mom is a great cook. She first started cooking as a teenager when her dad was sick and her mother had to work more. This experience gave her time to figure out how to make anything taste great – squirrel and other wild game – even liver and onions,” Britt said.  

She may be most famous for her cinnamon rolls. “When Mom worked at the school in Mountain Home, she made cinnamon rolls from a provided recipe, but she definitely had a knack for making them turn out wonderful,” Britt said. “Kids at school knew when it was Mrs. Kathy’s Cinnamon Roll Day, and they all lined up for those.”

When Britt worked at Gainesville Elementary before becoming Bakersfield superintendent, Kathy always made items for fundraiser bake sales. And at Bakersfield School, she made cinnamon rolls for the whole faculty and staff for Teacher Appreciation Day. “They were a big hit,” Britt said.

Raising her three children, “Mom always stressed . . . that, even though her outward beauty shines, it’s the inner beauty that matters most. “Some of her favorite sayings were, ‘Beauty is only skin deep’ and, ‘Pretty is as pretty does,’” Britt said. “She always stressed to my sister and me to act like a lady and have class. Second, she stressed that doing something was better than sitting around. Whether it was going outside to play or cooking for someone or making a quilt, staying busy and productive was better than being lazy any day. She would say there’s always something to do if you look around.”  

Kathy’s most important legacy to her children was teaching them that “we all make mistakes, and none of us are perfect, but the best way to exhibit a Christ-like spirit and be a good example is to look for the opportunity to serve others any way you can,” Britt said. “Whether it’s cooking a meal, giving a word of encouragement to someone, teaching online Bible classes, mailing church bulletins and cards, or any other of the many good deeds she has done in her life, being a servant to others has brought her joy. It’s the way she demonstrates Jesus living in her.” 

Kathy’s strong faith is especially important now, as she has been diagnosed with end-stage pulmonary fibrosis brought on by rheumatoid arthritis. Doctors say the condition will shorten her life, “but she’s very stubborn, so we all continue to believe only God knows when her final breath will be drawn,” Britt said. 

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423