1946 – 2022
David S. Darling, 75, of East Aurora, NY, passed away in his home on January 19, 2022, surrounded by his family. He was born December 1, 1946, in Little Falls, NY, to the late Stewart (Bud) and Evelyn Darling.
David is survived by his wife, Deb (Wolff) Darling, his son Michael (Jill) Darling, a stepdaughter, Jennifer Kuhn, and stepson Brian (Kelly) Logel; five grandsons, Evanton and Aaronton Darling, Alex Kuhn, and Blake and Brayden Logel; a sister, Melaine (Tom) Paatz of Dolgeville, NY, a brother, Don (Diana) Darling of Salisbury Center, NY; many nieces, nephews, and cousins. In addition to his parents, David was predeceased by a sister, Marilyn E. Darling.
David grew up in Stratford, NY, where he attended Dolgeville High School and Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica. He transferred to University at Buffalo and graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree in 1969.
For those of you who knew David, you knew what an extraordinary man he was. He worked at Fisher Price, a job he loved, as a mechanical engineer for almost 30 years. Throughout David’s career, he developed numerous toys such as FP Kitchen, Little People Castle, FP Space Tops, FP Play Family Garage, and FP Trike. However, he was most proud of the FP Adventure People Alpha Star Space Vehicle. In 1983, this toy was rated number one in Canada by the Canadian Toy Testing Council. David also was involved in the production of many commemorative Toy Fest toys.
David enjoyed a number of hobbies that included scuba diving, RC planes and cars, rockets, photography, building a 1937 Jaguar SS-100 from a kit, restoring his unique collection of Fiats, and home renovations. He especially loved time with his five grandsons that included skipping rocks, looking for crayfish, and creek walking. As the grandsons grew, he enjoyed attending their football, baseball, and soccer games.
Memorial Visitation will be held Saturday, April 30th, 1-3 pm, where a Memorial Service will be held immediately after.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Aurora Adult Daycare of East Aurora or the Boys and Girls Club of East Aurora.
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