Winston B. Darby

Winston Burris Darby, 92, February 13, 1923—December 17, 2015, was born on a farm in Lindsay, Oklahoma, south of Oklahoma City, to Arva Jane Cole and William Jesse Darby. At age 4 his parents moved the family including Winston, his younger siblings Juanita and Wayne to Glendale, Arizona. His father bought a new Chevrolet truck for the trip and the family of five rode in a small cab designed for two.

In 1928 they settled into a house one block east of where Bitzee Mama’s Restaurant is today. Winston graduated from Glendale High School, Phoenix College and the University of Arizona. As he was growing up, he delivered newspapers, milked cows, worked at a local dairy, picked cotton and delivered ice for the Crystal Ice plant. As a teenager, he built an evaporative cooler for the family home.

He enjoyed physical fitness and participated on the high school tumbling team with his cousin Louis Darby. From age 40 to 80, he attended the gym regularly running three miles three times a week. In his 60’s he ran 10K races receiving several trophies for reaching the finish line first in his age group. He once said, “I can jog as easily as I can walk.”

After his junior year at the U of A, he joined the Navy under a college program designed to let participants finish college before being called to serve in World War II. In 1943 plans changed. The Navy decided to call up participants to active duty and provide one semester for each two semesters needed to complete college. Winston was sent for one semester to the University of Idaho Southern Branch in Pocatello where he met Frances Moore at church. (They would marry in 1946.)

Afterward the Navy sent him to Officers Training School at Harvard University. Following training he served two years in the Pacific at Palmyra Island Naval Air Station, a small island/atoll 1,000 miles south of Hawaii. It was a major supply depot in the South Pacific providing support to defeat Japan. As the Disbursing Officer his job was to distribute payroll to military personnel. Occasionally the paper money would wear out and he would be flown to Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii to exchange it for new. He reached the rank of Lieutenant junior grade.

Near the end of his military service, serving in the Supply Corps, he was assigned to a ship docked in San Francisco Bay supervising the loading of supplies for the atomic bomb test at Bikini Island. On the morning shortly before the ship’s departure, he received orders to report to San Diego where he served for a few months until he was discharged. In 1947 both he and Frances finished their Bachelor’s degrees at the University of Arizona. They lived in one-half of a Quonset hut furnished by the University.

In 1947 he became employed with the State of Arizona as a junior accountant collecting and accounting for taxes paid by employers for unemployment insurance. He worked for 35 years and retired as the office manager. During his employment, he would be sent all over Arizona to meet with companies and audit their accounts making sure they were paying their unemployment insurance tax.

He remembered being sent to a particularly cold area in the winter—Window Rock and a hot spot in the summer—Yuma. He mediated difficult situations within the office and externally. One company mailed an envelope enclosing their tax form torn up in pieces. He met with their leader saying in effect, “It seems you might be having difficulty completing the form.” He was able to win their cooperation in finishing the paperwork.

To earn additional income for family vacations, he also worked as an insurance agent selling auto and home insurance. He and his wife Frances raised three daughters, Patricia, Karen and Cynthia. Vacations included camping and traveling by RV throughout the United States. He enjoyed travel photography and doing slide shows for family and friends. He said he preferred car travel because, “When you fly you miss so much.” After Winston and Frances were married more than 50 years, Frances died in 2000.

In 2004, Winston married Marjorie Hewette, nee Sutter. Marjorie had lost her husband to death in 1998 and, like Winston, had raised her family at First Baptist Church of Phoenix, AZ. At their wedding, the minister said he could not give them any advice since together they had over 100 years of marriage experience. During their nine years of marriage (she died in 2013) they enjoyed many trips sightseeing and visiting family.

Winston was a long-time of fan of music. When he was driving through Arizona for his state job, he would take breaks by stopping in record stores and listening to music. For about the last three decades he held season tickets to the Phoenix Symphony. In recent years he attended the Glendale Summer Band Concerts in Murphy Park.

He supported the organizations he valued. These included the National Parks, nature conservation groups, church, and local bands and symphonies.

He enjoyed a variety of people and treated them with respect. He was a responsible person took care of himself, his loved ones, and his finances. His friends and family describe him as kind, friendly, caring and generous.

Winston is survived by his daughters Patricia Purdy (Richard), Karen Bradakis (Mark) and Cynthia Darby, two grandchildren April Purdy and Andrew Purdy, and two great grandchildren Danielle and Brayden. The memorial service will be held at Living Streams Church at 7000 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ on Sunday, January 17, 2015 at 1:30 p.m.

Donations can be made in his memory to National Park Foundation, Nature Conservancy, City of Glendale--Summer Band, Phoenix Symphony or Banner Hospice.