AMARILLO – Genie Farley Harriman, daughter of Boys Ranch founders Cal and Mimi Farley, and herself a key figure in the early history of Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, has died. She was 91.

“Genie was a key figure in this organization’s history, and a passionate voice for our young people,” said Dan Adams, Cal Farley’s president and CEO. “Our entire organization was saddened to learn of her passing this morning. Our heartfelt condolences go to her children and their families.”

When Mrs. Harriman was a child, she often accompanied Mr. Farley in his travels. She was even present when Texas Panhandle rancher Julian Bivins donated the original 118.62 acres of land on which Boys Ranch now sits. She married Sherman Harriman April 20, 1947, at Boys Ranch. While the couple were raising their own children, Mrs. Harriman helped her mother handle correspondence to the young organization. Through the years, Mr. and Mrs. Harriman each served Cal Farley’s in a variety of capacities.

Even after she retired from Cal Farley’s in 1994, Mrs. Harriman continued to remain involved in life at Boys Ranch. She and her husband attended the Boys Ranch Rodeo each year, welcoming guests to the campus. For many years, every graduate of Boys Ranch High School collected his or her diploma from Mrs. Harriman’s hand, usually receiving a warm hug in the process.

“We’re so proud of you,” Mrs. Harriman told graduates in 2008, “My mother and dad would have been proud, too. This was their whole life, and they loved every minute of it. At the end of the day, my dad was doing exactly what he wanted to do. In your lives, this is what you need to do: Go find what you really, really want to do, and do it well.”

Mrs. Harriman was named a director emeritus of Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch in October 2012, with her husband, in recognition of their lifetime of service to the organization her parents started.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 68 years on March 23, 2016. She is survived by the couple’s two children, Shelley Sloger and Cal Farley Harriman, four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.