The way John Farrell’s mind worked made him an invaluable member of the Coca-Cola Co. executive management team, his colleagues said. That same quality made him an extremely fun dad, according to his daughters.
In an e-mail to company associates across the world, Muhtar Kent, Coca-Cola’s chairman and chief executive officer, said Farrell was “well known for his intellectual curiosity, disciplined thinking and his reassuring presence.” A 34-year employee of the company, Farrell was the company’s vice president and chief strategy officer. In the memo, Kent went on to praise Farrell for his recent contributions in the beverage giant’s global planning process.
And while Farrell was a highly skilled strategist and planner, every now and then he liked to go off script, said his youngest daughter, Jamie Farrell, who lives in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. She said her father, who loved the ocean, was “a very organized man,” but that he “was such a risk-taker as well.”
She said the last time she was on a sailboat with her father, he wanted to capsize the vessel.
“He thought it would be fun, and here I am trying not to capsize the boat,” she said with a laugh. “But sailing was his true love. He was such a water-man.”
John M. Farrell, of Atlanta, died April 29 from complications of cancer. He was 58. A memorial service is planned for 11 a.m. Monday at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Atlanta. H.M. Patterson & Son, Spring Hill Chapel, was in charge of the cremation arrangements.
Farrell, a native of West Palm Beach, Fla., joined Coca-Cola in 1979 in bottling operations as an intern, said his wife, Linda Wittschiebe Farrell. The next year, after earning his MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, Farrell took a full-time job with the company.
In the ‘80s John Farrell held several positions within Coca-Cola North America and later, he and his family spent 10 years in Asia. In 1993 he became president of Coca-Cola China, where he remained until 1999 when he moved to lead Schweppes Beverages in England. There Farrell completed the merger of Schweppes’ 130-country operation into Coca-Cola in 2001. After the merger, he became the director of business development and strategy for Europe, Eurasia and Middle East.
In 2005, Farrell went back to Asia and led corporate strategy and planning for Coca-Cola’s Japanese business unit. Three years later Farrell came back to Atlanta, where he was a key participant in the company’s 2020 Vision plan, and other corporate planning initiatives.
Farrell’s professional strengths seemed to come to him naturally, his wife said.
“He was always interested in how people did things,” she said. “He was interested in process, operations and strategic improvement.”
Those qualities were evident in Farrell’s professional work, Kent said.
“A person of deep integrity and knowledge of our business, he constantly challenged himself and everyone who knew him to refresh their passion for our brands and our business,” said the chairman and CEO. “John was a steady beacon of courage and calm and his example will inspire system leaders for generations to come.”
In addition to his wife of 34 years, and daughter, Farrell is survived by his eldest daughter, Katie Farrell of Philadelphia, Pa., and his brother Jim Farrell of West Palm Beach, Fla.
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