Chicago's Midway Airport: The First Seventy-five Years
by Christopher Lynch

Lake Claremont Press
Phone: 773/583-7800
http://www.lakeclaremont.com/

Fred Farbin: Midway Airport and Monarch Aviation's Greatest Friend

Fred Farbin stands in front of a U.S. government jet in the early 1970's
in front of the National Guard hangar at Midway airport.

It would be a ride on a Ferris Wheel in 1944 that would change Fred Farbin’s life. Fred and a friend were attending a carnival across from the airport at 63rd and Cicero, when the Ferris Wheel they were riding stopped, stranding them in the top car. As they waited, Fred watched the planes landing at nearby Chicago Municipal Airport, and suggested to his friend that they go over and check out the airplanes.

The two teenangers crossed the street and saw a sign advertizing Monarch Air Service sightseeing flights. Afer buying their tickets, Fred's freind climbed into the back of the Stinson SR-9, while Fred sat in the front. The pilot, Pierce "Scotty" O'Carroll, chatted with Fred, asking him if he was in school. Fred said he was, but wasn't too thrilled with the experience. O'Carroll, who immediately liked Fred, asked him if he wanted a job. Fred said yes, which would become a defining moment for him; except for a stint in the Merchant Marine in World War II, Monarch would be Fred's home for the rest of his life.

Fred would grow to become the Institutional memory of Midway airport. There was no aircraft had hadn't flown in, nor any airport system he had not mastered. Whenever O'Carroll flew charters or the non-skeduled airlines, Fred would go with him. There wasn't a state that this kid from the south side of Chicago had not visited.

One day, Freddy was filling up airplanes on the tarmac as a small airplane taxied up to the hangar. Freddy went out to service the aircraft.

As he topped off the fuel tanks, Fred noticed that the plane was flown by a woman, but that was not caught his eye. After all, aviation had been open for women for years. It was the woman's passenger that looked familiar.

Finally, Freddy walked up to the man, and said, "Aren't you.." but before he could finish, the man smiled and said "Yes, I am." They chatted a bit, and then the man said goodbye, and his female pilot took off, and they were gone.
Freddy was amazed. For the man he had just talked to was none other than Orville Wright, the first man to ever fly a plane. And so, the links of aviation, stretching from Kitty Hawk to this tarmac in Chicago became real to Fred. The fluid power of History had become real for Freddy; It was as if he had just met Columbus himself.

Fred Farbin standing on the stairs in front of an aircraft at Monarch Air Service at Midway Airport.

And after four decades at the airport, Fred had seen everything, and knew everyone. When Ronald Reagan was campaigning for the Presidency, and his campaign jet taxied onto Monarch's tarmac, it was Fred who put the chocks under its wheels. From Truman to Reagan, Fred was the constant presence on the field.

In 1985, in Monarchs' older hangar on Central Hangar, the hangar that Fred helped acquire for Rose O'Carroll, the widow of Pierce, a grand party was thrown. Everyone in Chicago aviation was there, as Fred cut the cake, and laughed his infectious laugh. It was a crowning achievement for a man who always did his job professionally, and raised the potential of those who worked with him.

Mike Cross, Fred Farbin,and Matthew J. Lynch celebrate Fred's 40th anniversary in 1985 at Monarch Air Service at Midway Airport.

When he passed away in the Mid-1980's, Midway airport lost its great advocate and most knowledgable person who ever worked on the field. This web page is a tribute to him from one who had the pleasure of hearing his stories, jokes, and his wonderful laugh. He is truly missed.