David M. Fargen

FARGEN, David M. Age 71, of Jamaica Plain. We are heartbroken at the loss of our dear friend, brother and uncle (Uncle Farge to his friends’ children and Farge to others), who passed away Saturday, March 29, at Tufts Medical Center after a brief battle with cancer. He lived a full, purposeful life, and we feel both loss and the warmth of his spirit.

David was a transportation planner with the Massachusetts Central Transportation Planning Staff for 30 years, a world traveler, instant friend to many who met him, excellent home cook and supporter of Democratic causes. A lifelong learner, he spoke several languages and was recently studying Italian.

He was raised in a small pink house in Pierre, South Dakota, and grew up with five siblings. His father, Leo Fargen, died when David was 2, so he was raised by his beloved mother, Adele Fargen. A pivotal moment in his life was when he joined the Peace Corps after college, spending 1983-1985 in Togo, Africa, teaching agricultural techniques in rural villages.

After graduate school in California and planning work in Reno, Nevada, David moved to Boston and never left, making Jamaica Plain his home. He had friends around the globe, from Turkey to South Korea to Italy and across the United States. In retirement, he relished his snowbird trips to Rome or Phoenix and often drove cross country unhurried, seeing friends and family along the way. David loved cooking and baking and in Rome recently learned to make pasta. He hosted international students in his Jamaica Plain condo, where they worked on learning English over tasty home-cooked meals.

He loved living in Boston, where he rode the Green Line to work and enjoyed walks around Jamaica Pond. He was a parishioner at Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic church in Roxbury and a 33-year Friend of Bill W.

David is survived by his brother, Tom Fargen (Linda Fargen) of Glenrock, Wyoming; his sister, Lexi Wangsness, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; his sister, Terese Fargen (Van Stewart), of Onida, South Dakota; as well as many nieces and nephews. He was a cherished godfather to his great nephew Daniel D. Walsh of Lincoln, Nebraska, and Cassidy Glascock, son of his close friends, Bryan Glascock and Lisa Modecker, of Roslindale.

David is also survived by dear friends in the Boston area, including Paul and Gretchen Locke and Sara and Paul Fletcher, many he knew through the Peace Corps. We are all saddened by the loss of such a kind, funny and caring person.

David was predeceased by his parents, Adele and Leo Fargen; his older brother, Dennis Michael Fargen; and younger brother, James Patrick Fargen.

Memorials can be made in David’s honor to the Peace Corps.

A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, May 16, 2025, at 6:00 P.M. at The Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, 1545 Tremont Street, Roxbury.

 A burial in South Dakota will be held later this year.