COLUMBIA — Services for Neil Darby, of Columbia, who died Wednesday evening, March 1, 2017, surrounded by his family and resting peacefully at the Myrtles Nursing Center in Columbia, will be 4 p.m. Sunday at Hathorn Funeral Home in Columbia.   
A short graveside service and burial will be 2:30 p.m. Monday, March 6, 2017, at Highland Cemetery in Hattiesburg, under the direction of Hathorn Funeral Home.
Visitation will be from 2 p.m. until service time Sunday at the funeral home.
Neil Darby was born and raised in Panola County. He was a 1962 graduate of Pope High School and a 1968 graduate of Mississippi State University. He met Anna Raden at Mississippi State and immediately knew he wanted to marry her. They wed in 1966.
Mr. Darby spent the majority of his career as a forester with International Paper Company. He worked all over the state of Mississippi and managed tens-of-thousands of acres of timber for the company. He was well-loved and respected by those who worked for him and implicitly trusted by his superiors. He retired from IP company in 1999 and started his own timber company, Deer Creek Forestry. He enjoyed the slower pace and eventually eased himself into full-time retirement and grandparent duties.
Mr. Darby’s work meant his family lived in many of Mississippi’s towns — Grenada, Vicksburg, Brookhaven, Natchez and then finally retirement in Columbia. In each town, the indelible mark of Neil Darby has been felt. His faith was his passion and he lived to serve and disciple others in their relationship with Jesus. In Vicksburg, he joyfully and tirelessly served in the high school and junior high ministries at Bowmar Avenue Baptist Church (now Crossway Church.) Even today, 30 years later, people remark how he loved them, encouraged them, and taught them. The Darbys lived in Brookhaven for only two years, but even in that short time, he was instrumental in planning events for and teaching scripture to the kids at Easthaven Baptist Church. His service continued at First Baptist Church in Natchez where he helped with the high school and college ministries for a number of years — planning trips, activities and Bible studies and teaching Vacation Bible School to junior high students. Even when he retired to Columbia, Mr. Darby continued to serve at First Baptist — helping with mission trips and coaching basketball leagues. Simply put, his life was one lived poured out in service to others. In all of these places he is remembered for his humor, encouragement and dedication; his commitment to daily prayer and Bible study; and his love of planning outdoor activities. The constant refrain from those who knew and loved him is that the impact he had on their lives was immeasurable.
He was so very good to his church no matter where he lived, but that is only a glimpse of what he meant to his family. Those who were honored to call him daddy and granddaddy are truly blessed. He loved his girls and taught them to take care of others. He rocked his grandbabies when they were little and took them to the zoo when they were bigger. His heart was broken as he watched his middle daughter, Mindy Harris, suffer and die from a brain tumor, but his faith stood firm. For so many — his wife, his daughters, his grandchildren, his nieces and nephews — he is the reason we are who we are and we will miss him today and always.
Darby was preceded in death by his daughter, Mindy Darby Harris; his parents, George and Lillie Mae Darby; and two siblings, Jerry Darby and Kay Carroll.
Survivors include his wife, Anna Raden Darby; three daughters, Dawn Darby Dias and husband, Peter, and their sons, R.J. and Matthew Dias of Columbia, Terri Darby Moore and husband, Darren, and their children, Jacob, Stella and Alex Moore of Arlington, Texas, and Jessica Taylor Kirkpatrick and her children, Jett and Cash of Petal; one son-in-law, Bill Harris of Hattiesburg; and one sister, Jo Blair and her children, Vicki Blair, Randy Blair and family, Stacy Blair Cheek and family and Morgan Carroll and family, all of Batesville.
The Darby family would like to thank the Myrtles Nursing Center for their loving care of Mr. Darby over the past year. They would also like to thank First Baptist Church of Columbia and especially the Mary Sunday School class and the Hugh L. Dickens Sunday School class for helping to care for both Mr. Darby and his family over the past several years.