Friday, September 6, 2013

Clifford Alonzo "Red" Farwell (1913 - 1953)

While looking through some old race programs recently I was trying to recall the year that Red Farwell was tragically killed while racing at Daytona. The year was 1953 as I suspected.


While researching some of the specifics of Red's tragic 1953 Daytona accident I stumbled across this record for Red in one of the genealogy centric cemetery databases. Someone has uploaded some wonderful motorcycle related photos of Red there.

Copy of photo taken from "CYCLE" magazine, April 1952, article "the KLAMFOTH VOODOO"
Clifford is on bike number 62 with fellow Norton Motorcycle riders prior to the 1953 Daytona race called the "Expert 200" that claimed his life.
"Red" is on the 3rd bike from the right -
Photo taken in front of his home in Puyallup, Washington.

Red is buried in Puyallup. I may have to run the '51 down there sometime.


5 comments:

Connie said...

Thank you for posting this! Red is my dad's uncle and we just had a Farwell Reunion this last weekend. Makes me think more about his life which tragically ended before I was born. I saw some of his racing trophies and photos when I was younger. Looking now online to find out more about him.

BitMonkey said...

Thanks for taking the time to comment Connie. I'm a big fan of Red's and racing history as a whole of that era. I'm always looking for magazine articles etc. that mention him. I've been lucky enough to meet a few racing peers of Red's (Cliff Stering & Donna Walters). They have all spoken highly of him and readily confirm he was a very special talent.

If the opportunity ever allows I'd love to meet any of Red's surviving family that may still have stories or memorabilia I could see. I do some volunteer work with the "Pacific Northwest Museum of Motorcycling" and we would love to preserve more of his history, even if only oral accounts. There are unfortunately fewer folks left every day that where there and can relay the facts and stories.

BitMonkey said...

The following search will show you some of the other Red Farwell content I've stumbled across:

http://geekbobber.blogspot.com/search?q=farwell

Unknown said...

Where is the Pacific Northwest Museum of Motorcycling located? Thanks for the link to other Red Farwell info! It's been a while since I've been on this site!

Unknown said...

Hi, my name is Michelle and Red was my mother (Kathy's)Dad. I have a bunch of his trophys and scrap books. I would like to donate to the museum this history.

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