James (Jim) Darnell was born in Greenville, Ill., on Sept. 26, 1941, and passed away in Lake Placid, Fla., on June 20, 2021. His funeral service is planned for 2 p.m. on July 18 at Mt. Nebo Primitive Baptist Church near Greenville, with a gathering to celebrate his life in the late afternoon on July 17. Details are available on his Facebook page. In lieu of flowers, Jim's family will greatly appreciate donations to your local Humane Society.
The second of Lewis and Eileen (Kious) Darnell's six children, throughout his life, Jim stood apart for his gregarious personality, bright intellect, sharp, merry wit, and boisterous laugh. Scholarly and athletic in high school, his intelligence and aspirations led him far into several career fields. Early in his adult life, he became a private pilot and the manager of St. Louis Flying Service, which introduced him to prominent sports and cultural celebrities from Joe Torre to Johnny Cash and Kenny Rogers, to name but a few. His work as a bid estimator for Charles F. Smith and Son in the construction of Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom led him to develop the horizontal dewatering system for which he was issued U.S. Patent 3998065 in December, 1976. In partnership with the A.H. Steenbergen company of The Netherlands (now owned by Barth), he established Hollanddrain America and served as its general manager. As a pioneering trenching and drainage contractor throughout the world, he engineered over three million feet of agricultural drainage, containment systems for hazardous waste sites, and critical desalinization projects. He was also an active member of the Land Improvement Contractors of America (LICA) for well over a decade. Later as the co-owner of Darnell's General Store in Greenville along with his second wife Margaret (Peggy) Ross-Darnell (married 1975, divorced 2019), and in various engineering-related capacities for prominent companies, Jim continued to impact developments large and small, all the while providing amply for his wife, his two sons with his first wife Lila Ridings-Darnell (1944-2015), and their extended family members. Whether as pharmacist, aviator, diplomat, entrepreneur, contractor, consultant, public servant, Primitive Baptist Church member, Elder, or Deacon, Jim was always thoughtful, purposeful, and charismatic. With large numbers of family members and in-laws throughout Southern Illinois and across America, he often hosted family get-togethers, serving as master of ceremonies and renowned grill master. An avid golfer always seeking adventure, he built a strong local presence through intermittent residencies in Florida and Mississippi, as well as throughout Bond County, captaining his ubiquitous pontoon boat and stirring up good times. Also widely known as Big Jim or BJ, wherever he went, the homing call of Bond County and his people always beckoned. Seemingly, each season's first wild morel mushrooms signaled timeless reminders of his wondrous boyhood spent in God's country... among dear ones to whom he was and will forever remain the best and brightest of a very proud family, and an upstanding community. Jim is survived by his brothers Jesse (and sister-in-law Diane, Lake Placid, Fla.) and Richard (Sarasota, Fla.), sister Susan Darnell-Bursa (Arthur, Ill.), sons Scott (Greenville) and Roger (and daughter-in-law Beth, Asheville, NC), and grandchildren Amelia (Raleigh, NC) and Riley (Asheville).