Cal Farley

Sign off U.S. Route 385 to Cal Farley's Boys Ranch in Oldham County, Texas

Cal Farley (December 25, 1895 – February 19, 1967) was an American professional wrestler and businessman. He has been called "America's Greatest Foster Father".

Farley was born in Saxton, Iowa and grew up in Elmore, Minnesota. He started playing semi-professional baseball as a teenager and served in the United States Army during World War I. While in the army, he competed as a wrestler and after the war became a professional wrestler.

He moved to Amarillo, Texas in 1923 and took over a tire shop. In 1934, he started the Maverick Club, an athletic club for boys, and in 1939 founded the residential childcare facility known as Boys Ranch, located near Old Tascosa, a largely otherwise abandoned community in Oldham County north of Amarillo in the Texas Panhandle.

In 1945, Mr. Farley also founded Kids, Incorporated, an Amarillo, Texas youth sports organization. He asked his friend, C.C. "Bus" Dugger to help him begin this program and Mr. Dugger became the organization's first coach when he picked up 11 boys at Glenwood Elementary School on the first Monday of 1945 and took them to the Maverick Club to play basketball. Today, the organization serves over 15,000 participants annually in 20-plus sports programs.

Girlstown, U.S.A., founded by Amelia Anthony in 1949 near Whiteface some forty-five miles west of Lubbock was absorbed into the Cal Farley's organization in 1987.

In 1944, Farley launched the annual Boys Ranch rodeo held over the Labor Day weekend.

The facilities have a strong spiritual program, with nondenominational Sunday morning chapel services and weekly Bible studies offered. The children are encouraged to participate in music ministry, read scripture, offer prayers, and serve as ushers. Education is provided by Boys Ranch Independent School District. In 1989, the City of Amarillo renamed the Amarillo Civic Center coliseum for him. In 1996, Farley was honored by the United States Postal Service with a Great Americans series 32¢ postage stamp.

External links

• Cal Farley's Boys Ranch (The public is invited to tour the facilities with prior arrangements encouraged.)
• Ridin' for the Ranch
• Cal Farley at Find a Grave