Palestine High School Alumni Association

05 / 30 / 1917  –  05 / 21 / 2012

Alvis Finley McFarlane of Del Rio, Texas, passed away on May 21, 2012, just nine days short of his 95th birthday. Under the care of hospice for a short time in his new residence at Country Place Living, Mr. McFarlane enjoyed the company of his immediate family, nieces and nephews, and close friends during his last days.

Alvis McFarlane was born on May 30,1917, in Palestine, Texas, the son of John W. and Willie Mae McFarlane. He and his three brothers and four sisters lived and worked on the family farm at the edge of town. Alvis got his intellectual curiosity from John W., who was dubbed “King Cotton” by the Texas press for his achievements in advanced agricultural methods.

Following the death of his father in 1928, farming during the Great Depression held little appeal for Alvis. However, being drafted into the Army cut short his aspiring business career with the Federal Reserve Bank and International Harvester in February 1941.

Recognized for his potential, Alvis was sent to Officer Candidate School and graduated from the Medical Field Service School in March 1942. Lt. McFarlane was dispatched to the Pacific front for service in New Guinea and Australia. There he served as supply officer, food service officer and company commander. At the time of his discharge from active duty in October 1945, Major McFarlane was Director of Dietetic Services the Army’s Baker General Hospital.

Recalled briefly to active duty during the Korean War, Alvis stayed in the Army reserves until 1968, when he retired with rank of Lt. Colonel. While in New Guinea, Alvis met and married Lilla Anderson, an Army nurse from Minnesota. The couple had one son, Harold Finley McFarlane. A few months later they moved from West Virginia to Del Rio, where Alvis and his brother Bryon started McFarlane Bros. Cafe, displaying the confidence and entrepreneurial spirit of many returning WW-II veterans.

Lilla passed away in 1951. In 1952 Alvis married Evelyn Anderson of Del Rio, a blissful union that sustained the couple for almost 60 years. They had one son, John Gregory McFarlane. Following his successful career in the restaurant business, Mr. McFarlane became a business manager for the school system until his retirement in 1984. He then started McFarlane’s Plants & Garden Supply, a landscaping career that sustained his productive energies through 2011. Alvis loved family, friends, cooking, gardening and community service. In his last two years he delighted in passing along some of his gardening passion and cooking skills to his grandson Matt.

He managed many projects for the First United Methodist Church and served several years on the School Board for the Del Rio Independent School District.

Mr. McFarlane was preceded in death by his brothers Carswell, Floyd and Byron McFarlane; his sisters Marie Kennedy, Frances Lowe, Helen Stout, and Savilla Kennedy; and his son John Gregory McFarlane.

He is survived by his wife Evelyn McFarlane; son and daughter-in-law Harold and Mary Ellen McFarlane of Idaho Falls, Idaho; and grandson Matthew Harold McFarlane of Boise, Idaho.

Funeral services will be on Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. at the First Methodist Church of Del Rio followed with interment at Westlawn Cemetery. Officiating will be the Rev. Tim Brewer.

Funeral arrangements with G. W. Cox Memorial Funeral Home, of Del Rio LTD, 114 Fletcher Drive, Del Rio, Texas.  78840.