David Darling

David Wayne Darling, age 89, husband, father, brother, grandfather, uncle, nephew, Professor and former Dean of the College of Education at the University of New Mexico, died January 14, 2019.  David was born in Deming, New Mexico on November 4, 1929 to parents Wayne Roswell Darling and Mary Louise Darling.  Mr. Darling spent his childhood in Deming.  As a boy he loved playing with his brothers and sister and close friends, especially Bobby Cooper.  

While in High School, David worked various jobs, including at the family Print Shop, the Deming Graphic, and as a lifeguard at the Deming Municipal Pool.  David graduated from Deming High School in 1947 with numerous accolades and accomplishments. He was elected class President for each of his 4 years of High School and inducted into the National Honor Society, as well as lettering in Football, Basketball and Track and being named Captain of the Football team his Junior and Senior years.  His High School years were one of the defining moments in his life.  

His second defining moment would occur when he met Mary Ryan, of Silver City, New Mexico.  They went on their first date on January 27, 1950 and spent the next 24,885 days loving each other.  David and Mary were married on October 22, 1952 at the Log Cabin Chapel on the Notre Dame campus.  On October 22, 2017, they celebrated their 65th Anniversary!

David graduated from New Mexico State Teachers College, now Western New Mexico University ("Western") in 1953.  He lettered in Football and in Track at Western.  He also served in student government his Sophmore and Junior years and was elected President of the Student Body his Senior year in college.  After graduating from Western, David and Mary lived in Maryland during David's tour of duty in the Army, from 1951 to 1953, after which he served in the U.S. Army Reserve for 8 years.  

After leaving the Army, they moved to Anthony, New Mexico in 1954 where David worked as an Elementary School Principal while beginning his studies for a Doctorate.  David eventually received a Master's in Education from Western and a Doctorate in Education from the University of Texas at Austin.  Between 1954 and 1963, Mary and David had 5 children.  Immediately after the birth of their last child, they moved the entire family to Madison, Wisconsin where David began his first faculty position at the University of Wisconsin. 

In 1967 Mary and David moved their family back to New Mexico, where David took a job as the Chair of the Department of Elementary Education at the University of New Mexico.  David served as the Dean of College of Education from 1973 to 1982.  In 1992 he retired as a Professor Emeritus from the University of New Mexico, having served 25 years, 8 years as a Department Chairperson and 9 years as a Dean.  

While raising their 5 kids and while being a busy Professor and Administrator, he supported Mary's decision to continue with her education.  Ultimately Mary became a CPA.  They raised their children together in the truest sense of the word.  David was active in coaching, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and in attending their children's extracurricular activities.  David was a reluctant Dean, accepting the position only after a failed search. The College was in serious disarray both intellectually and fiscally. Over his term of service he was able to bring the College into fiscal stability, unifying the faculty toward a common vision, and guiding them toward several national awards for Multicultural Education. A lifelong learner, David immediately recognized through popular science articles what was happening in the garages of what became known as Silicon Valley.  He was one of the first professors at UNM to have and actually use a personal computer in his office, and one of the first people in the neighborhood to buy one as well. While many faculty ease into retirement teaching the same courses in the same way, David decided to take a different route. Instead, in his final three years as a Professor he built a completely new curriculum in Math education around the amazing new frontier of the computer. 

David stayed active at UNM until their first grandson, Devon Tabish Moran, was born.  At that point he turned his attention to becoming a full time grandfather.  In May 1994, he was inducted into Western's Education Hall of Fame.  In January of 1997, then Governor Gary Johnson appointed David to the Board of Regents of Western.  He served on the Western's Board of Regents until January 2003.  During that time, he was Chairman of the Board of Regents from 1998 through 2001.  Between 1999 and 2003 he served on the New Mexico Board of Educational Assistance Foundation.  In May of 2005, he was awarded the Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by the Western's Board of Regents.

In their retirement years, Mary and David traveled, spent time with their children and grandchildren, and fell more and more in love with each other.  In the later years of their retirement, Mary was afflicted with Alzheimer's.  David's devotion to caring for Mary and spending every waking moment he could with her during the last chapter in their life together came to be an inspiration to the institution of marriage itself, as well as to their friends and families.  She succumbed to Alzheimer's on March 16, 2018.  Although he lost the love of his life, the last ten months of his life was spent with friends and family members, and everyday he spent time looking at Mary's picture and "talking" to her.  Mary and David were extremely proud of the fact that each of their 5 children obtained at least 2 college degrees, and all became contributing members of society.

David is survived by his daughter Ann Darling of Salt Lake City, UT, a treasured granddaughter America Darling Curl; his daughter Mary Darling of Albuquerque, NM, Mary's husband Ken Tabish and their children Devon Tabish Moran and Jason Arvizu and his wife Faith, and their son, David's great-grandson, Aidan Arvizu; his son David B. Darling of Carlsbad, CA, his wife Judy and their children Emily and Milo Darling; his son Louis A. Darling of Roseburg, OR and his wife Rhonda and their children Diana and Kayla Darling; his son John D. Darling of Monrovia, CA and his children Christine and Jack Darling; and his brother Ernest Francis and his wife Anita.  David is also survived by more than 40 nieces and nephews and their countless offspring.

A memorial service will be held at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, January 21, 2019 at Western New Mexico's Besse-Forward Global Resources Center Auditorium (W 12th St. Silver City NM fill in the address) followed by a burial ceremony at Ft. Bayard Cemetery in Ft. Bayard, New Mexico at 11:00 a.m.

In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Association of America, 322 8th Avenue, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10001.  Website: www.alzfdn.org

Mr. Darling's Family would like to offer heartfelt thanks to Wendy Deetz, who offered care, love and friendship in their home in Albuquerque, and to the entire staff, and Nielsa Romay de Gomez in particular, of the Brookdale Assisted Living Facility, and to his many devoted friends who loved and supported him throughout his life.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of David Darling, please visit our floral store.