He was a gearhead.
Someone who loves to work on cars, trucks and four-wheelers…someone who loves to drive them…someone who enjoys the smell of exhaust fumes and the exhilaration of punching the throttle on a souped up four-wheeler and going airborne at the coast.
Some 400 family members and friends said good-bye Sunday afternoon to 16-year-old Cody Lee McFarland who died October 30 of injuries incurred two days earlier in a truck wreck on Pleasant Valley Road.
A memorial for the popular teen was held at 3 p.m. at the Sweet Home High School gymnasium. There, memories of the smiling and fun-loving McFarland were shared by many.
Family members clung to each other on the gym floor in front of a casket bearing a Chevrolet bowtie logo. McFarland’s Yamaha four-wheeler was adorned with flowers. There was a floral spray with a photo of rigs at RAM trucking where McFarland was the “number one truck washer.”
Friends were invited to write messages on a huge truck tire.
The memorial touched many young persons who arrived in jacked up pickups or by bicycle. Most wore hickory shirts, jeans and ball caps bearing the “Fox” racing logo. It was how McFarland would have wanted it.
Pastor Percy McKnight said his family and Cody’s were neighbors for many years.
“Cody and our son, Patrick, grew up playing together. We went on vacations together. He was the little brother Patrick never had,” Pastor McKnight said.
McFarland, Pastor McKnight said, loved life.
“He really loved big equipment such as his truck, quads, the outdoors, the mud flat races,” Pastor McKnight said.
McFarland had a mischievous streak from the time he was little, Pastor McKnight said. He enjoyed playing pranks such as sneaking into his older sister’s bedroom at night and turning up the heater thermostat.
“She woke up so hot one night she thought she had the flu,” Pastor McKnight said.
He loved washing trucks at RAM Trucking and especially enjoyed the money that work generated.
He always had a special place in his heart for his grandparents, both Mr. and Mrs. J.C. McFarland and Mr. and Mrs. Ernie Baxter.
Pastor Gary Robertson knew McFarland through the Harvest Christian Church which Robertson pastored for several years.
“Cody would come to church with his grandparents and I noticed that he was always so respectful both to them and to the House of God. That’s a real plus in a young person today,” Pastor Robertson said.
McFarland’s friend, Kelsey Hall, said she knew him from age three and penned a poem about that special friendship.
His grandfather, J.C. McFarland said he was blessed to have had such a grandson for 16 years.
“He leaves a big hole in my heart,” McFarland said.
He thanked the hundreds who gathered to celebrate his grandson’s life and also thanked the community as a whole for the huge outpouring of kindnesses extended to the entire family.
Others told of watching Cody grow over the years, from making valentines day cards with his sister and their friends to his interest in trucks and bikes.
“Cody loved life,” Patty McKnight said. “I will always remember him for the sparkle in his eye and the smile on his face.”
Pastor McKnight said it is often difficult to understand why God calls young people home so early.
“But we have to realize that life is short and that God talks to us in terms of days, not years,” Pastor McKnight said. “Also, we need to find the peace that’s deep inside, true happiness that comes from accepting Jesus Christ.”
After the memorial, a private service was held at the Gilliland Cemetery.
Casket bearers were Aaron Burke, Tyler Richards, James Routon, Tim Carr, Keith Kleven, Brian Giddings, Adam Zurcher and Shaun Shuster.
Musical selections included “A Country Boy Can Survive”, “Every Rose Has a Thorne,” “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” and “Paradise City”.
Arrangements were by the Workman and Steckly Funeral Chapel.
Cody L. C. McFarland
May 22, 1986-Oct. 30, 2002
Cody Lee Calvin McFarland, 16, of Sweet Home died on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2002.
He was born in Lebanon on May 22, 1986 the son of Terry and Sonya Baxter McFarland.
He attended Pleasant Valley Kindergarten, Oak Heights Elementary, Sweet Home Junior High and was a sophomore at Sweet Home High School.
He worked for Ram Trucking as a truck washer, washing Gary Olsen’s truck each week. He did lawn work for the elderly too.
He loved big-block lifted Chevy trucks and riding quads on the coast. He also enjoyed pranks on family and friends.
Up until the sixth grade, he played football and T-ball and wrestled.
He is survived by his parents, Terry and Sonya of Sweet Home; sister, Fallon Baxter of Albany; grandparents, J.C. and Lorene McFarland and Ernie and Pat Baxter, all of Sweet Home; great grandparents, Mabel Baxter of Sweet Home and Bill and Viola Traylor of Albany; and many aunts and uncles.
Memorials may be made to a scholarship fund in his name.