Richard "Dick" Carrol Darlington

Nicholasville, KY Richard Dick Carrol Darlington, 81, died May 12, 2017. He is survived by his daughter Julia Darlington; son David (Tracy) Darlington; brother Robert (Patricia) Darlington; grandson Ben Darlington; granddaughters Madeline Darlington, Morgan Caudill and Jordan Caudill; niece Melissa Darlington and nephew Michael Darlington. He is preceded in death by his wife Margaret McMillen Darlington and parents Carrol Bernard and Margaret Teel Darlington. Dick was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania September 12th 1935. He graduated from Henderson High School in West Chester, PA, and then attended Drexel University in Philadelphia, traveling every day by train graduating in 1958 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. While attending Drexel, Dick served as a co-op for Chrysler in Detroit, Michigan and along the way, obtained his ASE Master Mechanic Certification. He joined the ROTC while at Drexel and was drafted after graduation. He was stationed at Fort Dix, NJ and Fort Benning GA and went on to become platoon Sergeant. He was honorably discharged in 1960. Afterward Dick went to work for Sun Oil Company and moved to Lexington Ky., as a salesman for Sun Oil. After his time as a salesman he became a franchisee of his own Sunoco station on New Circle Rd, a station on North Broadway and a Shell station on Nicholasville Rd. In 1962 Dick met Katy Blair at a dance held at the Congress Inn. They were soon married and in 1968 gave birth to their son David and in 1973, to their daughter Julia. Dick then purchased Darlington Auto Clinic which he operated until the mid-80s. After which he established his own four-wheel drive parts and accessories shop in Nicholasville which he eventually sold and formally retired from the automotive service business. In 2003 Dick met Margaret McMillen and they were subsequently married. They lived happily in their home on Vince Road in Nicholasville until her passing in October of 2016. During their time together Dick and Maggie went far and wide- on cross country trips, multiple cruises, trips to Canada, Mexico and a trip to Italy were the highlights. He was often joined by his brother Bob and sister in law Pat. Last year Dick was extremely grateful to have been able to take Maggie out West, taking her Granddaughter Taylor & Grandson William with them on what turned out to be, Maggie & Dicks last great road trip. Dick loved his family and his grandchildren of whom he was fiercely proud- making road trips to see them wherever they played or performed. Dick was a car junky. He built his own 32 Ford Hotrod while in college. If you pop in a copy of the original 1958 classic The Blob starring a young Steve McQueen, you can see it being engulfed by the alien of the same name as a prop for the movie that was being filmed in Downingtown, PA at the time. Cars were his passion & his hobby and later in life- his work. He started drag racing with the families Dodge Charger at the Clay City Dragstrip in the 70s. Taking it to work during the week- then fixing it up for drags on the weekend. He only lost two races in his drag racing career in Kentucky. Later, when he got the bug for off-roading, he became a founding member of the still active IOK Four Wheelers Association and helped create the Central Kentucky Four Wheelers Association where he served as club president and officer for many years. Every summer meant a road-trip to a racing event somewhere in Kentucky, Ohio (where he was a fixture every year at Gravelrama), New York and beyond. His racing adventures included The Trans Amazon Rally held in South America- a race that began in Cartagena, Columbia, then looped around the continent and ended in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Unfortunately, the race ended for Dick and his co-driver with a broken axel somewhere around Bogota, Columbia and Dick spent the next two weeks selling off parts to his Jeep just so he and the remainder of his Jeep could hitch a ride home on a cargo plane loaded with poinsettias headed to New Orleans. Dick ran the Bluegrass Jeepers Trailride Club and headed up the Jeep Jamboree organization in Kentucky for many years- an event that, until then, had been held solely in the western Rockies. Dick was able to convince the people at Jeep that there were plenty of mud holes, bogs and trails in the Appalachians that needed to be experienced outside of the west. Places like Natural Bridge State Park got a whole new audience as a result. His last great race was held in Primm Nevada where he and his co-driver raced his modified Jeep Cherokee Chief 300 miles thru the Nevada desert. Dick felt that life was meant to be lived. His heroes were explorers and world travelers and his book collections were centered on just that. On his coffee table you could always see a novel about the American West, the frontiersmen who explored it, the natives who lived before them- or just as likely you might see books about engineering marvels- railroads, dams, bridges & roads carved thru the mountains. To Dick, these books were his research before he struck off to see it for himself. Or they were his proof that he had been there- done that. Funeral Information There will be a Gathering of Family and Friends from 2-4PM, Sat., May 20, 2017, followed by a Celebration of his Life at 4PM at Clark Legacy Center in Brannon Crossing. www.clarklegacycenter.com