Kammala jumla mai zuwa: An haifi Farnum a Saginaw, Michigan kuma ya girma a cikin wata gona a Watrousville. Ya sauke karatu daga makarantar sakandaren Vassar, Vassar, Michigan, a 1933 kuma ya ci gaba da karatunsa a Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1935. Ya ɗauki darussan ilimi na musamman kuma ya yi aiki a masana'antar kera motoci a Pontiac, 1936-1952. Ya tsunduma cikin ayyukan ƙungiyar daga mai kula da shagon zuwa wakilin ƙasa da ƙasa na United Auto Workers-Congress of Industrial Organizations, 1942-1952. Ya kasance mai ba da shawara na gudanarwa ga Sanata Blair Moody na Amurka, 1952-1954 da mataimakin Sakataren Harkokin Wajen Michigan, 1955-1957; mataimakin Sakataren Harkokin Wajen Michigan, 1957-1960; da Michigan Auditor General, 1961-1965. Ya kasance wakili ne a majalisa na kasa na Democratic na
1956, 1960, da kuma 1964.