Ida E. Farrington, 99, who lost a son in World War II and went on to become president of the Chicago chapter of Gold Star Mothers, a charitable group made up of mothers who lost children in the war, died of natural causes Wednesday, Jan. 24, in Palos Community Hospital in Palos Heights. A longtime resident of Oak Lawn and Chicago, she had been a resident of Alvernia Manor retirement home in Lemont, Ill., for the last five years. Born Ida Tries, she grew up in Chicago and was married in 1922 to Dr. Miles F. Farrington, a Chicago optometrist. She was also the mother of the late Francis M. Farrington, an Army infantryman who died in Germany during the war. After the war, Mrs. Farrington joined the Gold Star Mothers, named for the gold stars displayed in house windows when families lost a serviceman in the war. Through the years, she came to lead the group’s Chicago chapter. “She was a hard worker, a good organizer,” said her son Bob, a former Tribune composing room manager. “I think she really did it as a tribute to my brother.” In addition to her son, Mrs. Farrington is survived by a daughter, Elaine Farrington-Stapleton; 10 grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren. A funeral mass was said Saturday in Lemont.
