CLARENCE J. FARLEY Page 525 - Clarence J. Farley is the executive head of one of the oldest established and important corporations that has done much to advance and maintain the commercial prestige of Grand Rapids, the exclusively wholesale dry goods house with which he is connected having been here established half a century ago, in 1875, by the firm of Voight & Herpolsheimer. This title obtained until 1902, when a reorganization was effected and the business was incorporated under the title of the Grand Rapids Dry Goods Company which continued until September 4, 1925, when the Grand Rapids Dry Goods Company was sold to its successor, C. J. Farley & Company, which is located at the same place, 20-28 Commerce avenue, southwest. In his careful and progressive policies Mr. Farley has done much to expand the company’s business throughout the territory tributary to Grand Rapids as a distributing center, and he is distinctly one of the representative business men of the younger generation in his native city. Mr. Farley was born in Grand Rapids, September 19, 1892, and is a son of John F. and Catherine (DeKeyser) Farley, the former of whom was born in Corey, Pennsylvania and the latter in East St. Louis, Illinois, their marriage having been solemnized in Grand Rapids, where they still maintain their home and where Mr. Farley is engaged in the retail grocery business at 1406 Madison street, southeast. The public school discipline of Clarence J. Farley included that of the Central high school in Grand Rapids and after leaving school he was in the service of the Michigan Trust Company of Grand Rapids until he entered the commercial field by identifying himself with the Grand Rapids Dry Goods Company, in 1919, as previously noted. He is a republican in politics, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, has membership in the Peninsular Club and the Highland Golf Club, and he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church. In the World war period Mr. Farley was in the nation’s military service, in which he gained the rank of second lieutenant and assistant quartermaster, at Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico, where he was stationed at the time he received his honorable discharge. He is a member of the American Legion and is prominent in both business and social circles. In August, 1922, Mr. Farley was united in marriage to Miss Clarice Kalterman, of Kansas City, Missouri, and the one child of this union is their winsome daughter, Betty Jean. The family home is at 1546 Fourth street, northwest, and is a hospitable one, where their friends are always welcome.

Transcriber:  Nancy Myers
Created: 5 November 2002