Billie Sunday Farnum was a politician from the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

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Farnum was born in Saginaw, Michigan

Saginaw, Michigan

Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan...

 and raised in a farm community at Watrousville. He graduated from Vassar High School, Vassar, Michigan

Vassar, Michigan

Vassar is a city in Tuscola County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The small town was founded March 1, 1849. The population was 2,697 at the 2010 census and 2,823 at the 2000 census...

, in 1933 and continued his education in the Civilian Conservation Corps

Civilian Conservation Corps

The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...

, 1933-1935. He took special educational courses and was employed in the motorcar industry in Pontiac

Pontiac, Michigan

Pontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac, located within the Detroit metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 59,515. It is the county seat of Oakland County...

, 1936-1952. He engaged in union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 activities ranging from shop steward to international representative for United Auto Workers

United Auto Workers

The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers , is a labor union which represents workers in the United States and Puerto Rico, and formerly in Canada. Founded as part of the Congress of Industrial...

-Congress of Industrial Organizations

Congress of Industrial Organizations

The Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO, proposed by John L. Lewis in 1932, was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union leaders to swear that they were not...

, 1942-1952. He was administrative aide to U.S. Senator Blair Moody

Blair Moody

Arthur Edson Blair Moody , known as Blair Moody, was a Democratic U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan.-Early life:...

, 1952-1954 and assistant Michigan Secretary of State

Michigan Secretary of State

The Secretary of State is the third-ranking official in the U.S. state of Michigan and one of four great offices of state. As the name implies, the officeholder was originally responsible for much of state government, but now the duties are similar to those of the other 47 secretaries of states...

, 1955-1957; deputy Michigan Secretary of State, 1957-1960; and Michigan Auditor General

Michigan Auditor General

The Michigan Auditor General is the chief fiscal officer of the State of Michigan. The office was established in 1839 and has been made an electoral office in 1850. The first Michigan Auditor General was Robert Abbott, and the first elected Auditor General John Swegles, Jr....

, 1961-1965. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention

Democratic National Convention

The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...

s of 1956

1956 Democratic National Convention

The 1956 National Convention of the Democratic Party nominated former Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois for President and Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee for Vice President. It was held in the International Amphitheatre on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois August 13–17 1956. Unsuccessful...

, 1960

1960 Democratic National Convention

The 1960 Democratic National Convention was held in Los Angeles. In the end, the Kennedy-Johnson ticket was assembled and went on to secure an electoral college victory and a narrow popular vote plurality in the fall over the Republican candidates Richard M...

, and 1964

1964 Democratic National Convention

The 1964 Democratic National Convention was the 1964 presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party. It took place at the Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey from August 24 to 27, 1964. Incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson -- who had been Vice President under...

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Farnum was elected as a Democrat from Michigan's Michigan's 19th congressional district

Michigan's 19th congressional district

Michigan's 19th congressional district is an obsolete United States congressional district in Michigan. The first candidate elected from the newly created district was Billie S...

 to the 88th United States Congress

88th United States Congress

The Eighty-eighth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1963 to January 3, 1965, during the last year of...

, serving from January 3, 1965 to January 3, 1967. He was known as one of the Michigan Five Fluke Freshmen

Michigan Five Fluke Freshmen

The Michigan Five Fluke Freshmen is term given to five members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan that were elected in the Democratic landslide of 1964 and subsequently defeated just two years later by a Republican resurgence. All of the five were one-term congressmen...

 and was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1966, losing in the general election to Republican Jack McDonald

Jack H. McDonald

Jack H. McDonald is a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.McDonald was born in Detroit and was educated in White Lake Township and Detroit. He attended Wayne State University and served as supervisor of census for Wayne County with the Bureau of the Census in 1960. He was elected supervisor...

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Farnum was deputy chairman, Democratic National Committee, 1967-1968; member, Waterford Board of Education, 1969-1970; owned a financial and management consulting firm; elected secretary of the Michigan Senate

Michigan Senate

The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. The Senate consists of 38 members, who are elected from constituencies having approximately 212,400 to 263,500 residents....

 in 1975 and served in that capacity until his death in Lansing

Lansing, Michigan

Lansing is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located mostly in Ingham County, although small portions of the city extend into Eaton County. The 2010 Census places the city's population at 114,297, making it the fifth largest city in Michigan...

. He was entombed in mausoleum at Deepdale Memorial Park.