Obituaries

Recent Obituaries
In Memoriam Archive

Founder of Persephone Farm in Lebanon, Oregon

Jeff Falen ’80

December 4, 2020.

Jeff, who founded Persephone Farm in Lebanon, Oregon, was born in 1957 in Arkansas City, Kansas. Jeff and his older brother Mike were born with a primary immune deficiency called X-linked agammaglobulinemia, and much of their childhood was spent in doctors’ offices and sickbeds. 

After a year studying at Northern Arizona University, Jeff transferred to Reed. His thesis, “The Rat and the Herbicide,” studied bile salts, enzymes, herbicides, and toxicology.

Jeff and his father, Ted, spent over a year looking at farms before his parents purchased the land which became Persephone Farm. Jeff moved to the farm in February 1985, despite his van breaking down several times along the way. Right away, Jeff achieved organic certification for the farm through Oregon Tilth, and began selling crops to distributor Organically Grown Company, two key relationships which continue through today.

On April 1, 1990, Eleanor O’Brien started work at Persephone as an apprentice. She and Jeff quickly grew attached and decided to live and farm as partners. Year in and year out workers came and went, Jeff and Eleanor would look at each other and say, “Well, we’re still here.”

In the last two weeks of his life, Jeff stopped all medications, treatments, and therapies except for a few to keep him more comfortable, declining any further efforts to prolong his life. Though he is no longer present, the farm is imbued with the essence of his life and work.

Appeared in Reed magazine: Spring 2025

comments powered by Disqus