Billy Eason McFarland

Billy Eason McFarland Sr. passed away peacefully on June 19, 2020 at his home in Quartzsite, Arizona, age 89, attended by family and close friends, following a long and painful struggle with skin cancer. Born in Jackson, Tennessee, on June 6, 1931, he accompanied his family to Arizona in 1940. Billy attended Phoenix Union High School, leaving before graduation to join the Army. He passed the GED exam while in the Army and completed his studies at Phoenix College in 1954.

While in the Army, he served with the 24th Division's 21st Infantry Regiment, arriving in Korea in June, 1950, from peacetime occupation duty in Japan, and fought in the retrograde back to Pusan, then the counterattack, making it to within sight of the Yalu river, before being wounded and evacuated. His medical evacuation and rehabilitation took him back to Arizona where he was discharged at Fort Huachuca.

Following a brief stint as a firefighter on post, Billy was hired as a patrolman by the Phoenix Police Department in 1953. He retired from the Phoenix PD with 30 years of credit having risen to the rank of major. After briefly working as a town marshall in Cave Creek Arizona, Billy decided full time retirement was in order and embarked on years of motorcycle and full-time RV travel with his beloved wife, charming new friends around North America.

He is survived by his wife, Marian; a daughter, Cheryl Beck, a son-in-law Robert Beck, and Cheryl’s son, Timothy McFarland and his progeny; a son, Billy E. McFarland Jr., a daughter-in-law Deborah McFarland and their two daughters, Kathleen McFarland and Patricia McFarland Sturtz; and was preceded in death by a daughter, Carole McFarland, his children's' mother, Barbara Brubaker McFarland, and his siblings, Elizabeth Cooper and Gloria West Bowman. Known for his easy smile and subtle, warm sense of humor, this kind and generous man is missed by all who knew him.

He will be inurned at the Southern Arizona Veteran's Cemetery in Sierra Vista and a memorial service will be held at a future date in Quartzsite when his many snowbird friends from around the world, USA and Canada have returned. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in his name to the Phoenix Police Department Museum. The museum's space now encompasses one of the bureaus he led. https://phxpdmuseum.org. There is a display of a motorcycle cop and we like to think it's him, as he loved big bikes and his time on "motors."