Esther Dorothy Farmer

Esther Dorothy Farmer, 85, of Upland, California, passed away on June 28, 2020 after a brief struggle with cancer. Esther was born June 1, 1935, in Alta Loma, California, the daughter of Jesus and Maria Perez, and lived her adult life in Upland. She held Bachelor of Arts and Masters degrees in Education from the University of La Verne, and received numerous teaching awards throughout her career as an educator, including recognition by California Department of Education of her classroom as a “model site” for limited English-speaking children with special needs. At the time she received her teaching credential, she was one of just six teachers in the State of California credentialed to teach a bilingual curriculum. She later served on the Board of Directors for Inland Regional Center, and as president of the OPARC Parent Group until her passing in 2020.

From 1941 to 1949, Esther attended elementary school at St. Georges Catholic School in Ontario, California, where she transferred from the Grove School, a segregated public school designated in the early 1940’s as one of San Bernardino County’s “Mexican Schools.” She later attended Chaffey High School in Ontario, where she was popular among her classmates, served as one of her high school’s five “song leaders,” and was elected Vice President of her senior class. As a song leader at both Chaffey High and later Chaffey Community College, she performed at and promoted the school’s football, basketball and baseball games, and later served as Treasurer for the Epsilon, Sigma, Alpha sorority.

While attending Chaffee Community College, she met her future husband, an accountant at the Convair Division of General Dynamics. As she would later write, “Everything turned into perfect harmony and my heart sang with happiness when I met my husband, Irvin Lee Farmer.” In 1960, the couple had their first son, Douglas, and in 1966, their second son, Jeffrey, who was born with special needs. Irv and Esther would later make significant sacrifices to meet the challenges presented by Jeffrey’s autism, and to put their son Doug through Harvard College, and later Harvard Law School.

In 1975, Esther received a grant from the State of California to attend the University of La Verne, where she received her Bachelor of Arts, and Masters’ degree in Education. She began her career as a teacher with the Azusa Unified School District’s Paramount School. She later earned a special education credential to be able to teach special education, teaching at the District’s Murray School.

In 1987, the California Department of Education designated her classroom as one of six “model site” programs in the state for its innovative strategies in meeting the challenges of limited English-speaking children with special needs. The designation came with a substantial state grant. In 1987, her curriculum was featured in the book Teaching Exceptional Children, for its unique approaches to challenges faced by teachers educating non-English speaking children with special needs. In 1989, Janet Ratleff, author of the California Department of Public Education publication, Instructional Strategies for Crosscultural Students with Special Education Needs, dedicated her publication to Esther for her “innovative strategies in working effectively with culturally and linguistically different exceptional students.”

Esther went on to serve on the Board of Directors for Inland Regional Center, and as President of the Parent Group at OPARC, a position she held until her death in 2020. Until her passing, she continued to receive calls and letters from former students thanking her for the encouragement they received from her teaching that enabled them to live happy and successful lives.

Esther is survived by her son Douglas J. Farmer, a lawyer in San Francisco, and his partner, Lisa Senadenos; her son Jeffrey Farmer of Upland, California; grandson Daniel Farmer of Oakland, California and his wife Monique, grandson Neal Farmer of Los Angeles, California, and their mother Catherine Schwallie Farmer of Berkeley, California; sister Virginia Romero of Vallejo, California; nephew Steve Romero of Anaheim Hills, California, and his children Aaron, Garrett and Gianna; niece Diana Braulik and husband Darren Braulik of Benicia, California, and their children Isabella and Olivia.

Donations in Esther’s memory can be made to the following organizations, both pioneers in their work for persons with developmental disabilities: OPARC at www.oparc.org, and Salem Christian Homes at www.salemchristianhomes.org.