[2] Farrell was elected as the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives in 1941.
[3] He served as Oregon Secretary of State from 1943 until his death in 1947.
He died in office while flying to southern Oregon on a hunting trip, with Oregon Governor Earl Snell, State Senate President Marshall E. Cornett and pilot Cliff Hogue.
All four were killed when the small plane crashed in stormy weather near Dog Lake, Lake County, Oregon, on October 28, 1947.
His interment was at River View Cemetery in Portland, Oregon.