Funeral services were held Monday in Ogden for Farrell R. Collett, 92, a well-known artist and educator who died March 14, 2000, in St. George.
Mr. Collett had resided there since about 1987.Mr. Collett founded the art department and taught for 37 years at what is now Weber State University, where the art building was named in his honor. His art was displayed at the 1939 New York World's Fair.
Services were held at Lindquist's Ogden Mortuary. Burial was in Lindquist's Washington Heights Memorial Park, Ogden.
Born in Bennington, Bear Lake County, Idaho Mr. Collett was perhaps best known for his wildlife and landscape paintings in oil and watercolor. Favorites of the artist, whose paintings have been exhibited in dozens of galleries, schools and collections throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, included the cougar, the bear and the horse. He also loved to paint the mountains, including the Tetons in Wyoming and Timpanogos in Utah County, and painted a large number of pioneer forts in Utah.
Mr. Collett received bachelor and master of art degrees from Brigham Young University, where he was editor of the yearbook and student body president and where he helped work his way through school by painting cougars on the jackets of students. He joined the Weber College art faculty in 1939, was chairman of the art department until 1971 and continued as professor of art until 1976.
He studied extensively in California, Illinois, New York and Europe. He won acclaim for such paintings as the killing of "Old Ephraim," a giant grizzly bear, and "The White Horse," a mood study of a horse on a summer day.
He was the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Henry Aldous Dixon Memorial Award, an Honorary Doctor of Humanities and the Associated Students Teaching Award at Weber State University. In 1983 he was presented the Outstanding Alumnus Award at BYU. In 1994 he was the recipient of the Governor's Award for Art for the State of Utah. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had been a priesthood quorum instructor.