Kenyeta McFarland describes her late brother Marcus as “a well-renowned person, very outspoken, very likable guy.”
Marcus McFarland was a father of three and a native of Southeast Missouri. He died in 2011 after being shot in his car in Poplar Bluff, leaving a circle of grieving loved ones. Ten years later, his family adopted a segment of Westwood Boulevard in his name, making him the first Black resident of Poplar Bluff memorialized by a highway.
When she began looking into MoDOT’s Adopt-A-Highway program, Kenyeta McFarland had no idea Marcus’s memorial would be the first. Having that distinction to his name has meant much to his family and friends, as does the Adopt-A-Highway sign’s location next to the Valley Plaza shopping complex.
“It feels really good. It made my mom feel really good just to see that, and his kids get to see that. Every time they drive up and down the highway, they see it, practically every day,” she said. “You can never miss (it), where they’ve got it put in.”
Carrying on Marcus McFarland’s legacy is an active endeavor for his family. Last Thanksgiving, they spent three hours cleaning litter along the roadway. They are also creating a scholarship in his name for Poplar Bluff and New Madrid high school graduates. But as they honor his memory, Kenyeta McFarland said, she also strives to move on from the grief and anger of his death.
“You have to begin to move on...There’s a little hurt there, but you know, at the end of the day you’ve got to move on because he wouldn’t want everybody to be in an uproar and all mad about something. Just move forward and keep on going. So I just keep trying to keep him alive and do as much as I can,” she said.