Richard MacFarlane

Richard Macfarlane
Manti, Utah

Richard “Dick” Quayle Macfarlane, 88, passed away on April 24, 2022 in Centerfield, Utah.

Dick Macfarlane was born in Cedar City, Utah on August 15, 1933, the son of Sinclair and LaRue Quayle Macfarlane.  While his father was a butcher and storekeeper, his mother was a nurse/mid-wife, Dick spent much of his time growing up with friends whose families owned farms and ranches—especially sheep ranches—which gave  him an opportunity to develop a life-long affection for livestock, agriculture and horses.

After serving in the Army post WWII, stationed primarily in Germany, Dick served a mission in Western Canada for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and then returned to pursue an education at Utah State University, where he courted and married Sara Jenson, a sheep rancher’s daughter from Cedar City, whose family he was acquainted with. They were married in the St. George Temple on April 2, 1959.

Following graduation from USU, Dick worked for Nebeker Ranches in the Bear Lake Valley, and then for Redd Ranches in Southeast Utah and Southwest Colorado, where he, Sara and their children spent summers on the Uncompahgre Plateau trapping bear and tending sheep camps.

Dick ultimately took a job with Farm Service Agency (then Farmers Home Administration), which brought him and his family to Sanpete County.  Dick had developed a close, life-time relationship with several of his Ag professors at USU, including Milt Madsen, and John Butcher, who were both life-long mentors and some of the biggest influences in his life. Dick’s relationship with Milt Madsen (who did not have any children), ultimately led to his acquisition of the Madsen farm, in the South Willow Creek area between Manti and Ephraim, from Milt and his brother Frank Madsen, who was a life-long Manti resident.

Among Dick’s other agricultural interests, he enjoyed draft horses, and bred and raised Suffolk draft horses for a time. This provided him with an opportunity to become an accomplished teamster, and hone horsemanship skills that he subsequently plied when Dick and Sara served a mission for the Church in Nauvoo, and he spent much of his time there working as a teamster, and giving wagon rides to visitors.

Dick was predeceased by his parents; his wife Sara, in 2010;  sister, Margiilee; and a young son, John Kimball, who died at the age of three, in 1974.

He is survived by his children:  Alene (Val) Wheelwright,  Edmond, OK; Todd (Heidi) Macfarlane, Kanosh, UT; JoAnn Wickel, Henderson, NV; and Dan (Andrea) Macfarlane, Centennial, CO; as well as 12 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Graveside services will be held on Saturday, May 21, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. in the Manti Cemetery.  A celebration of life will follow at the Macfarlane family residence in Manti. Funeral Directors: Magleby Mortuary, Richfield, Salina and Manti. Online guestbook at www.maglebymortuary.com