2014 -- S 2005

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

EXPRESSING ITS DEEPEST CONDOLENCES TO THE FARMER FAMILY ON THE

PASSING OF THE HONORABLE SUSAN L. FARMER, FORMER RHODE ISLAND

SECRETARY OF STATE AND THE FIRST WOMAN IN RHODE ISLAND HISTORY TO

HOLD STATEWIDE GENERAL OFFICE

     Introduced By: Senators Paiva Weed, Ruggerio, Goldin, and Algiere

     Date Introduced: January 08, 2014

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, Susan Farmer, who broke the glass ceiling in Rhode Island politics to get

elected Secretary of State and become the first woman in Rhode Island history to hold statewide

general office, passed away after fighting a long battle against cancer; and

     WHEREAS, Susan Farmer was born in Boston, a daughter of the late Ralph and

Margaret (Tyng) Lawson. Her father was the retired president of a machine tool plant and her

mother was prominent in Republican women’s circles. Ms. Farmer lived for a while in Bristol,

Rhode Island and was a Providence resident for more than 60 years. She went to Wheeler School

in Providence, then Stoneleigh-Burnham School in Greenfield, Massachusetts, now known as

Simmons College; and

     WHEREAS, Susan Farmer began her involvement in politics in 1971 due to her

opposition to, and increasing frustration with the Vietnam War. She and her husband helped start

a "Dump-Nixon" rally that drew thousands to the State House. In 1972 she ran the Rhode Island

Presidential campaign for California Republican Paul McCloskey, an ardent opponent of the

Vietnam War who was trying to deny President Nixon the 1972 Republican Presidential

nomination; and

     WHEREAS, In 1976 she became then Senator John Chafee's Finance Director and later

in 1979 she ran for, and won, a seat on the commission drafting a new Home Rule Charter for

Providence; and

     WHEREAS, After losing her bid in 1980 to become Rhode Island Secretary of State, she

ran again in 1982 and emerged victorious. She easily won re-election in 1984 but lost a hard-

fought campaign in 1986 for Lieutenant Governor; and

     WHEREAS, A year later in 1987 Susan Farmer was offered the job of General Manager

of Channel 36, Rhode Island's public television station. Susan re-invigorated public television in

Rhode Island, using her administrative, fundraising and public-relations skills. She came up with

the idea of airing a weekly public-affairs show, "A Lively Experiment", and became a prolific

fundraiser for the station. She ran Public Television Station WSBE from 1987 to 2004, and

served as President of the Rhode Island PBS Foundation from 1987 to 2005. She was inducted

into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 2010; and

     WHEREAS, Besides her husband Malcolm Farmer III, Susan Farmer leaves daughters,

Heidi Farmer Piccerelli of Barrington, and Stephanie Lawson of Kentfield, California; now,

therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby expresses its deepest condolences to the Farmer family on the passing of the Honorable

Susan L. Farmer; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mr. Malcolm Farmer III.

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