Tara Ann McFarland

MALTA – Tara Ann McFarland, a 48-year-old resident of Malta, passed away Saturday, August 24, 2024, at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah.

Tara was born at 7:00 a.m. on July 3, 1976, in Burley, Idaho, the daughter of Kenneth Albert and Janet Parke McFarland. She just missed being a bi-centennial firework baby.

Tara grew up in Malta, Idaho, on the family farm where she and her brother went on many adventures on their horses and bicycles. Tara graduated from Raft River High School, the class of 1994. She went on to work at Burger King in Burley while attending college at CSI. During this time Tara was afflicted with an autoimmune disease that she would battle the remainder of her adult life, which led to a life threatening episode of pancreatitis. After recovering from the pancreatitis she went to work for Jerome Cheese.

Tara earned a black belt in Tai Kung Fu and a brown belt in Wu-Wei Gung Fu. After her time spent working at Jerome Cheese she went to work for CSI Refugee Center, where she has worked for the last 15 years. In this period of time her autoimmune disease progressed to the point of needing her first liver transplant. This surgery was a huge success.

Tara loved to travel. She traveled all over the country and to Mexico for work. She went on many adventures with her mother; her brother and her partner, Rick. Tara also loved snowmobiling with her brothers in the winter and jet skiing in the summer.

Tara never married nor had any children, but she thought of her four-legged children just the same.

In recent months, Tara’s autoimmune disease reared its ugly head once again, making her very sick and requiring yet another liver transplant. Tara started the day Friday, August 23, with so much hope and excitement when they found a new liver for her. But sadly, her surgery was complicated and she lost the battle she had been fighting for the last 30 years.

Tara was loved by many. She was preceded in death by her father, Kenneth; her brother, James Parke; and her brother, Craig McFarland.

She is survived by her mother, Janet McFarland; and her brother, Kenneth Arthur McFarland; and her partner, Richard Myers.

The funeral will be held at 11 a.m., Friday, September 6, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – Malta Ward, located at 280 N. 1st St. West, in Malta, with Bishop Layne Schumann officiating. The interment will follow at Valley Vu Cemetery in Malta.

Family and friends will be received from 5 until 7 p.m. Thursday, September 5, at Rasmussen-Wilson Funeral Home, located at 1350 E. 16th St., in Burley, and from 10 until 10:45 a.m. Friday, prior to the funeral service.

A live webcast of the Funeral Service will be available and maintained at the following link: https://youtu.be/1MD4og3SIjA.