Former District  2 Allen Parish Police Juror Allie Marvin “Buddy” Farris died Tuesday at the age of 80.

Farris, of Oakdale, served on the police jury for 20 years. He served part of his term as police jury president.

District 8 Police Juror Roland Hollins, who not only served with Farris, but was also friends with Farris and his family, said Farris was a good public servant who believed in serving his community.

“Buddy was a people’s person, a community minded guy,” Hollins said. “Whatever Buddy believed in or supported, his belief was strong and he stood up for what he believed in.”

“He was just a good guy, even when we had our differences, we remained friends.”

He said it was an honor to serve and work with Farris as a police juror.

During his tenure, Farris was a strong advocate for creating a
a reservoir/lake in the parish, building a new parish jail and attracting the Roy O. Martin plant to the parish. It was also during his time that the parish overcame controversy involving early renewals of a gaming compact with the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana to provide gaming revenue to local government bodies.

Farris was also the owner and operator of The Buy-U store in Oakdale for 30 years, which Police Jury Secretary-Treasurer Colleen Sonnier remembers fondly.

“I grew up with Buddy’s niece, Beth Hendrixson, and nephew, Billy Hendrixson, so I have known him since the mid-70s when we were in junior high,” Sonnier said. “We all hung out at the Buy-U. Buddy just accepted us all as his extended family.”

Farris became her boss in 2009 when Sonnier began working for the police jury.

She said Farris knew everybody and everything going on.

“If I wanted information one of my first calls was made to Buddy,” she said.

She said he also had a passion to cook and loved sharing that passion with others.

“He loved to cook and would often cook for us before our monthly meetings,” she said. “He passed on his recipe for crawfish étouffée to me.”

Farris also worked for Missouri Pacific Railroad for 13 years and served in the U.S. Army.