Changes

(2) Mary Margaret Albright Farabee (married 1991-2014, his death)​

(2) Mary Margaret Albright Farabee (married 1991-2014, his death)​

| children=Steven R. Farabee<br> ​

| children=Steven R. Farabee<br> ​

David Lee Farabee​

[[David Farabee​]]

|alma_mater=(1) Wichita Falls High School ​

|alma_mater=(1) Wichita Falls High School ​

(2) [[University of Texas]] at Austin<br>​

(2) [[University of Texas]] at Austin<br>​

(3) UT Law School​

(3) UT Law School​

|footnotes='''Notes'''

|footnotes='''Notes'''

 

* Considered a moderate member of the [[Democratic Party]], Farabee worked to secure passage of more than two hundred bills during his thirteen years in the state Senate, including a revision of the mental health code, particularly important to his first wife, [[Helen Farabee]].​ He supported most of the [[liberal]] measures in his party's agenda.<br>

(1) Considered a moderate member of the [[Democratic Party]], Farabee worked to secure passage of more than two hundred bills during his thirteen years in the state Senate, including a revision of the mental health code, particularly important to his first wife, [[Helen Farabee]].​ He supported most of the [[liberal]] measures in his party's agenda.<br>

* His younger son, [[David Farabee]], is a former member of the Texas House of Representatives from Wichita Falls from 1999 to 2011.​

 

(2) His younger son, David Lee Farabee, was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from Wichita Falls from 1999 to 2011.​

}}​

}}​

'''Kenneth Ray Farabee''', known as '''Ray Farabee''' (November 22, 1932 &ndash; November 20, 2014),<ref name=tsc>{{cite web|url=http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/pub/user_form.asp?pers_id=7169|title=Kenneth Ray Farabee|publisher=Cemetery.tx.us|accessdate=December 5, 2009}}</ref> was an [[attorney]] in [[Austin]], [[Texas]], who served as a [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] member of the state Senate from his native [[Wichita Falls]] from 1975 to 1988. He is credited with the authorship of 245 Senate bills that became law during his 13-year tenure.<ref name=tsc/> In 1985, he was the Senate President Pro Tempore. His younger son is former state Representative David Lee Farabee of Wichita Falls.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wcmessenger.com/opinion/columns/EkVuVApFlpBpkyOFbO.php|author=Dave McNeely|title=Representative David Farabee retiring a blow for Democrats|publisher=''Wise County Messenger''|date=October 4, 2009|accessdate=December 5, 2009}}</ref>

'''Kenneth Ray Farabee''', known as '''Ray Farabee''' (November 22, 1932 &ndash; November 20, 2014),<ref name=tsc>{{cite web|url=http://www.cemetery.state.tx.us/pub/user_form.asp?pers_id=7169|title=Kenneth Ray Farabee|publisher=Cemetery.tx.us|accessdate=December 5, 2009}}</ref> was an [[attorney]] in [[Austin]], [[Texas]], who served as a [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] member of the state Senate from his native [[Wichita Falls]] from 1975 to 1988. He is credited with the authorship of 245 Senate bills that became law during his 13-year tenure.<ref name=tsc/> In 1985, he was the Senate President Pro Tempore. His younger son is former state Representative [[David Farabee]] of Wichita Falls.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wcmessenger.com/opinion/columns/EkVuVApFlpBpkyOFbO.php|author=Dave McNeely|title=Representative David Farabee retiring a blow for Democrats|publisher=''Wise County Messenger''|date=October 4, 2009|accessdate=December 5, 2009}}</ref>

==Background==

==Background==

Farabee was born six weeks prematurely. His attending physician did not expect him to live through the night, but he survived.<ref name=autobio>''Ray Farabee: Making It Through the Night and Beyond: A Memoir,'' 2009, ISBN 978-0-615-25762-4</ref> Well into the [[Great Depression]] years, he attended Alamo Elementary School and Zundelowitz Junior High School. He graduated in 1952 from Wichita Falls High School. During his junior and senior years of high school, he attended a [[YMCA]] youth program called Hi-Y at the Texas state capitol in Austin. The organization trained young people in various aspects of [[government]] service. Farabee hence developed an understanding of public affairs more than three decades before he entered the state Senate to succeed newly elected [[U.S. Representative]] Jack English Hightower of Vernon in Wilbarger County west of Wichita Falls.<ref name=farabee>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2007/nov/03/a-man-called-fairabee-getting-started-making-an/|title=Jessica Langdon, "A Man Called 'Fairabee': Former Wichita Falls lawyer, legislator known as man of respect"|publisher=''Wichita Falls Times Record News''|date=November 3, 2007|accessdate=December 5, 2009}}</ref> Farabee has been a high achiever throughout his life but confesses that he failed to make the coveted promotion to [[Boy Scouts|Eagle Scout]] in his youth,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-en/blogs/austin/outandabout/entries/2009/10/12/through_the_nig.html|author=Michael Barnes|title=Through the Night and Beyond with Ray Farabee, Part 1|date=October 12, 2009|publisher=Austin360.com|accessdate=December 5, 2009; no longer on-line}}</ref> a goal achieved by his son David.​

Farabee was born six weeks prematurely. His attending physician did not expect him to live through the night, but he survived.<ref name=autobio>''Ray Farabee: Making It Through the Night and Beyond: A Memoir,'' 2009, ISBN 978-0-615-25762-4</ref> Well into the [[Great Depression]] years, he attended Alamo Elementary School and Zundelowitz Junior High School. He graduated in 1952 from Wichita Falls High School. During his junior and senior years of high school, he attended a [[YMCA]] youth program called Hi-Y at the Texas state capitol in Austin. The organization trained young people in various aspects of [[government]] service. Farabee hence developed an understanding of public affairs more than three decades before he entered the state Senate to succeed newly elected [[U.S. Representative]] Jack English Hightower of Vernon in Wilbarger County west of Wichita Falls.<ref name=farabee>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2007/nov/03/a-man-called-fairabee-getting-started-making-an/|title=Jessica Langdon, "A Man Called 'Fairabee': Former Wichita Falls lawyer, legislator known as man of respect"|publisher=''Wichita Falls Times Record News''|date=November 3, 2007|accessdate=December 5, 2009}}</ref> Farabee has been a high achiever throughout his life but confesses that he failed to make the coveted promotion to [Eagle Scout]] in his youth,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-en/blogs/austin/outandabout/entries/2009/10/12/through_the_nig.html|author=Michael Barnes|title=Through the Night and Beyond with Ray Farabee, Part 1|date=October 12, 2009|publisher=Austin360.com|accessdate=December 5, 2009; no longer on-line}}</ref> a goal achieved by his son David.​

Read Granberry, the parliamentarian of the Texas House of Representatives, heard Farabee at a youth speech event and urged him to attend the [[University of Texas]] at Austin, from which Farabee obtained his Bachelor of Business Administration and then [[Juris Doctor]]ate from the UT Law School. He managed to procure a small scholarship and lived in a $10-per-month barracks dormitory. He became acquainted with the then Texas Secretary of State [[John Ben Shepperd]], for whom he worked when Shepperd served as the state attorney general from 1953 to 1957.<ref name=farabee/> Farabee was the UT freshmen class president and later the student body president. He visited the [[University of Wisconsin-Madison]] as part of his student political activities. There he met his future first wife, the former [[Helen Farabee|Helen Jane Rehbein]],<ref name=helen>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ffa33|title=Helen Jane Rehbein Farabee|publisher=Tshaonline.org|accessdate=December 5, 2009}}</ref> who became the mother of his two sons. Helen was the student body president at UW, a rare accomplishment for a young woman at that time. The couple married in 1958 after their graduations and Farabee's service in the [[United States Air Force]].<ref name=helen/>

Read Granberry, the parliamentarian of the Texas House of Representatives, heard Farabee at a youth speech event and urged him to attend the [[University of Texas]] at Austin, from which Farabee obtained his Bachelor of Business Administration and then [[Juris Doctor]]ate from the UT Law School. He managed to procure a small scholarship and lived in a $10-per-month barracks dormitory. He became acquainted with the then Texas Secretary of State [[John Ben Shepperd]], for whom he worked when Shepperd served as the state attorney general from 1953 to 1957.<ref name=farabee/> Farabee was the UT freshmen class president and later the student body president. He visited the [[University of Wisconsin-Madison]] as part of his student political activities. There he met his future first wife, the former [[Helen Farabee|Helen Jane Rehbein]],<ref name=helen>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ffa33|title=Helen Jane Rehbein Farabee|publisher=Tshaonline.org|accessdate=December 5, 2009}}</ref> who became the mother of his two sons. Helen was the student body president at UW, a rare accomplishment for a young woman at that time. The couple married in 1958 after their graduations and Farabee's service in the [[United States Air Force]].<ref name=helen/>

''Texas Monthly'' magazine for five consecutive sessions dubbed Farabee one of the state's best legislators.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/magazine/bestworst#1977|title=Texas Monthly: Best and Worst Legislators|publisher=''Texas Monthly''|accessdate=December 5, 2009}}</ref>

''Texas Monthly'' magazine for five consecutive sessions dubbed Farabee one of the state's best legislators.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/magazine/bestworst#1977|title=Texas Monthly: Best and Worst Legislators|publisher=''Texas Monthly''|accessdate=December 5, 2009}}</ref>

==Later years==

==Later years==