Barbara and Dan’s love story began just shy of two decades ago but each of their individual stories began long ago, in Tulsa and in West Virginia.
Barbara
was born in Tulsa, OK the youngest of three children. Her dad was a Produce Manager at Safeway Stores and had a band on the side playing both the saxophone and the clarinet. Barbara recalls the time he played in a band with Lawrence Welk before Lawrence was famous. Barbara’s mother worked outside of the home as a seamstress at Faith Garments, where they made school uniforms. Her gift of sewing spilled over at home where she sewed all of Barbara’s and her sibling’s clothes. They moved to Minnesota for a few years for her father’s job, but relocated back to Tulsa for Barbara’s high school years at Central High School. At Central, Barbara said she was all about her ‘girlfriends,’ many of whom she is still best friends with today. The moment she graduated high school, Barbara worked hard and always had a job.
A logical thinker and numbers person by nature, Barbara did accounting for Dresser-Rand, who built compressors. She moved up quickly and retired as administrative assistant in the engineering department. Barbara has two children; her daughter, Connie, who is a lawyer at WPX Energy in Tulsa, and has always been a ‘smart, independent girl,’ Barbara said. Her son, Larry, works as an independent contractor in Tulsa. During her children’s younger years, she did many things with her kids from activities to sports to traveling; they had a full and exciting childhood. All this time of working and raising her kids, a man by the name of Dan McFarland, was on his coast-to-coast journey, all in preparation to eventually cross paths with Miss Barbara.
Dan McFarland was born 
in Huntington, West Virginia and grew up with an older sister. His dad was a pharmaceutical salesman and his mom, a 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade teacher. In high school, his family moved to Richmond, VA. where he went to Thomas Jefferson and joined ROTC. In his Jr. year, the family moved to He Cincinnati, Ohio. Dan finished high school at Western Hills High School the same school as Doris Day! He joined the Navy and was on the USS Princeton that traveled to Japan and Hawaii during the Korean War where he spent 3 ½ years.
One of his favorite memories was in while on Liberty, he and a bunch of the guys went to Hollywood and got to see Bob Hope’s TV Show. His souvenir for the day… a picture with Bob Hope and one of his co-stars. After getting out of the service, Dan hitchhiked back to Ohio, got in his 1953 Chevy and drove out to California. He started his work as an office boy doing drafting, eventually moving up as an architect, manufacturing and designing homes. In 1980, he was laid off and opened his own arts and crafts business for 3 years. While Dan enjoyed his life in California, he decided he needed a change and moved to Oklahoma, of all places! With a stop in Tulsa to apply for a job, he was hired on the spot with Burtech as a planner. He worked there for 10 years. Then, he decided to move to Oregon because a friend had told him it was a great place to retire. So, Dan took a buyout and got his retirement plan, lived in a double wide and did tons of remodeling, eventually selling it back for every dime it was worth! Changing his scenery once again and wanting to be closer to his sister, Dan moved across the coast to Florida. He plugged into a local church to find community, but found that Florida was not the place for him, so he sold his home and moved back to Tulsa. Dan ‘knew there was something back in Tulsa,’ for him. Little did he know, this ‘something’ was Miss Barbara, who was patiently waiting in Tulsa for a man to help her fix up her new condo and move out of her house. Dan was just the guy for the job.
Upon returning to Tulsa, Dan’s friend introduced him to Barbara. She was in the process of moving and needed a little help, Dan showed up at her doorstep to lend a hand. The moment he began to interact with her, he knew he was going to marry her. Dan consistently called her and was insistent in marrying her. (He worked SO hard to get her attention and even color coordinated her closet!) In August of 1996, the two were married. They went to San Francisco for their honeymoon and have enjoyed years of travel together.
Dan and Barbara have been living at UV for 15 months. ‘We enjoy all the things here. We are very blessed and have made such good friends,’ The McFarlands both said, agreeing. Barbara enjoys doing reading while Dan enjoys crossword puzzles and being on the UV Okies Wii Bowling Team. Dan is also an incredible artist, many of his paintings hang in their cottage (including the one in the picture above)! Their life motto is this: ‘Nothing is important enough for us to worry about.’ Well said from a couple whom have each had their own hardships in the past and are happily married!
People from all different backgrounds and walks of life are here at University Village.Through various backgrounds, and diversity, we are still one big family and thrive on authentic relationships and community here at University Village! If you are interested in finding out more information on assisted living in tulsa ok or senior living communities in tulsa ok, contact us here to set up a tour or appointment.
