Chef Niki Farrington

Chef Niki- Angela Nicole Farrington of Pilot Mountain, 50, unexpectedly left this earth to be with "our old people" on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. She was a daughter, sister, friend, social-worker-turned-chef, mother hen and mama bear and an all-around pain to everyone who knew her.

She was born January 8, 1976 in Mercer County, West Virginia to Carl Bruce Farrington Jr. and Cheryl Ann Westfall (Farrington) Shaw, two American kids living in the moun-tains. She grew up in Winfield, WV until 1989 when the family moved to The Big City: Winston-Salem. She graduated from Mt. Tabor High School in 1994 and from Appalachian State University in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in Social Work. She worked in Watauga County, Chicago, Elizabethton/Johnson City and back to Winston-Salem in her field, primarily with hospice patients.

She was preceded in death by her father, exactly 22.5 years earlier, to the day. She would have thought that was notable. She also lost her closest companion, Hank The Dog, too soon for her liking.

Niki was the proud owner of Niki’s Pickles. She had a history of being called a professional chef although she carried no formal culinary training. However, with a passion for comfort food from local sources and one very unique ingredient- LOVE, Niki was able to amass a following of hungry patrons. She believed that grace and compassion could fix what ails you, and it helped if it tasted good. Niki wanted to leave everything and everyone better than when she first met you. Her social work background carried through into every restaurant and through Covid she was able to use those skills to find support structures for the food services community by creating "HEARD COLLECTIVE".

If she could have been paid for her story-telling, she could have been the crazy eccentric aunt she dreamed of...

Niki was smart and had a "smart mouth" (as people who don't cuss would say). She was hilarious and stubborn to a fault. Niki was not shy about speaking her mind and was not willing to disarm the security system on her heart. She would say she was hard to love and she believed it- while in reality, she loved hard. She gave great advice and listened intently for what others said without words.

Niki has a world of restaurant family that can share her secret ingredient- LOVE- all day!

(you know her favorite nickname and she would be sad that I am not allowed to use it)

She is survived by her loving family members who miss her deeply: her mother and step-father, Cheryl and Bart Shaw; her sister, Lori Farrington (Stephen Surrell); her intensely adored nieces: Maci Farrington-Johnson, AmyWith2EE's Surrell, Carly Surrell; cousins in West Virginia (Chad and Nathan Westfall) and in Tennessee (Betty Williams, Jason and Garrett MacIntosh, Ben and Haley Farrington, Jackie and Diana and Jimmy Johnston, The Nobles, The Mashburns, The Honakers); and aunts and uncles all over the south (Kathy Parkins, Steve and Traci Farrington, Chrissy and Jimmy Noble, RuthAnn Honaker, Becky and Lois Smith); step-brothers, John Shaw and Jason Shaw (Chelsea Ledford); and her dog Pepper.

There will be celebrations of life in Pilot Mountain on June 27th and Winston-Salem on June 28th.

For all that knew Niki, share her memory with a comforting meal seasoned with LOVE and a side of laughter.