Marjorie Darnell Obituary

Durango resident Marjorie Darnell died from a stroke Friday, Jan. 13, 2012, at the home of her son Carl Darnell in Durango. She was 103.

Known as "Pat," she was born to Bert and Eva McGinnis on April 26, 1908, in Wichita, Kan. She was one of seven children. Mrs. Darnell grew up on a farm and enjoyed many aspects of it, especially being outside and avoiding housework, her family said.

In 1915, the family moved to Goodwell, Okla., where she attended school at Panhandle Agricultural & Mechanical College, now Oklahoma Panhandle State University.

On Christmas Day, 1935, she married James F. "Mike" Darnell in Dalhart, Texas. The family moved around as he pursued a career in the Army. Mr. Darnell retired as a command sergeant major after serving 27 years in the military.

Mrs. Darnell worked for The Victor American Fuel Co. in Denver; as a school secretary for the Oklahoma A&M School of Agriculture; at the Federal Land Bank in Wichita; for the Aetna Life Farm Loan Department in Lawton, Okla.; and as the school secretary for Lawton High School for 10 years before retiring in 1972.

She was an active member of St. Paul's Methodist Church in Lawton, including United Methodist Women and the choir, Friends of the Lawton Public Library and the Comanche County Retired Educators Association. She lived in Lawton from 1952 to 2008, when she moved to Durango to be closer to family.

"She had an incredibly positive attitude and was the most humble, modest person imaginable," her son Carl said. "Many people who met her thought she was in her 80s."

Mrs. Darnell attributed her long life to lots of exercise, walking to school and proper diet. She said her mother was a good nutritionist.

Although she lived at Sunshine Gardens West, she considered her son Carl's home her home, her family said.

"She was a most even-tempered woman, in spite of sharing a home with three headstrong males," her son Michael Darnell said. "She was stronger than all of us."

Mrs. Darnell was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Mike Darnell.

She is survived by her sons Carl Darnell of Durango and Michael Darnell of San Antonio; three stepgrandchildren; four stepgreat-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Lawton. A reception will take place afterward. Burial will occur at Fort Sill National Cemetery in Oklahoma with her husband.

There also will be a celebration of life at her son's home in Durango in February.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to St. Paul's Methodist Church People Fund, 910 Northwest 38th St., Lawton, OK 73505-3799; or Comanche County Chapter of the American Red Cross, 920 S. Sheridan Road, (Prairie Building), Lawton, OK 73505.

An online guestbook is available at www.beckerfuneral.com.