| Notes |
- Obituary from Dallas Morning News:
The Rev. H. Neill McFarland found his ministerial calling in 1954 when he began teaching the history of religions at Southern Methodist University.
Two years later, he crossed the Pacific as a visiting professor in Japan. The experience led to many lasting relationships and his founding of the Japan-America Society of Dallas in 1970.
McFarland, 93, died July 14 of a heart attack at Medical City Dallas.
A memorial will be at 3 p.m. Thursday in SMU's Perkins Chapel.
H. Neill McFarland, retired SMU professor of history of religions.
H. Neill McFarland, retired SMU professor of history of religions.
McFarland had been a church pastor and conducted weddings throughout his career, but seemed to prefer the classroom to the pulpit, said his daughter Anna McFarland of Dallas.
McFarland was born in Dallas, where he graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1941. He was captain of the Wildcats basketball team.
He attended SMU but received his bachelor's degree from Texas Christian University, where he played basketball.
In 1944, he married June Balch. She died of cancer in 1971.
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McFarland returned to SMU, where he earned a doctor of divinity degree from what is now the Perkins School of Theology, studying under the Navy's V-12 program to become a chaplain.
In Dallas, McFarland was assistant pastor for two years each at First Methodist Church in Dallas and Crown Heights Methodist Church in Oklahoma City. He then went to Columbia University to resume his studies.
In New York, he was pastor of Goodsell Memorial Methodist Church in Brooklyn for five years.
In 1954, McFarland earned a doctorate in history of religions from Columbia under a joint program with Union Theological Seminary. He then joined SMU as assistant professor of history of religions.
Although McFarland chose the classroom over the church, he conducted many weddings and spoke before congregations throughout his career, his daughter said.
In 1956, McFarland, his wife and three daughters went to Japan for his visiting professorship.
"Both my parents just kind of fell in love with Japan, the culture and the people," his daughter said. "They came back and cultivated friends who had similar interests. Then, eventually they got a group together and decided to form the Japan-America Society."
In 1966, McFarland was named associate dean of SMU's theology school. He became provost and vice president the next year.
In 1972, longing for a return to the classroom, he stepped down as provost to resume full-time teaching. He was SMU's director of international programs from 1975 to 1979. He retired in 1988.
In 1986, the emperor of Japan awarded McFarland the Order of the Sacred Treasure with Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon in recognition of his contributions to mutual understanding between the U.S. and Japan.
McFarland wrote two books: The Rush Hour of the Gods: A Study of the New Religious Movements in Japan (1970) and Daruma: The Founder of Zen in Japanese Art and Popular Culture (1987).
In 1973, McFarland married Connie Kamperman.
In addition to his wife and daughter, McFarland is survived by two other daughters, Sharon Groves and Marsha McFarland, both of Richardson; a stepson, Bill Kamperman of Winchester, Ky.; his brother, George McFarland Jr. of Annapolis, Md.; two grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
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1923 - 2017 (93 years)
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