In Remembrance: Jack Farina
Alumnus and former Beloit College music instructor Jack Farina’56 passed away in February at age 89.
A lifelong Beloit resident, Farina graduated from Beloit Memorial High School in 1952 and attended Beloit College, where he received a bachelor’s degree in Music and Performing Arts. As a student, he played percussion in the swing band and frequented fraternity jam sessions. After graduating, he joined the U.S. Army and was a member of the Bagpipe and Bugle Band.
Farina went on to become a music teacher, bandleader, and mentor. He spent 31 years as a music teacher at Beloit Catholic High School, and also taught music lessons at Anatowind Music Clinic, Beloit Turner, Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic School, and was a percussion instructor and director of the college’s jazz band in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was widely respected and remembered for his passion for music.
In 1968, he started the Jack Farina Band, which continues to perform on the first Sunday of every month at Grand Avenue Pub in downtown Beloit. Over the years, the band has performed at many venues in the area, including in Rockford, Janesville, Lake Geneva, and Delavan. In the big band tradition, with a repertoire of more than 200 songs, the Jack Farina Band still performs the works of iconic artists such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey, and Glenn Miller.
Farina was also a member of Dixieland Band and the Jack Farina Quartet. Farina told the Beloit Daily News in 2022 that one of his most memorable gigs was in Pearsons Hall, providing live music for the late Professor Darrah Chavey’s ballroom dance club.
Farina was a member of Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church. When he wasn’t playing music, he enjoyed golfing and fishing, and was a dedicated fan of the Wisconsin Badgers and Green Bay Packers.
He was predeceased by his wife, Marjorie “Sue” Farina, three sisters, and his parents. Survivors include his daughter and several nieces and nephews.
