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Mark Wiltrakis · 01-09-2010, 10:37 AM

Dang!!! Darol's death is a big loss for the Airstream community. He had a remarkable knowledge of a trailer's "pieces" and the skills necessary to repair/remodel/replace anything that was substandard. I wish I had a photo of his workshop to share here - it was itself an accomplishment in function. His '64 Pontiac was equally impressive.
There are a number of Darol's trailers around the Pacific NW. Photos here would be a nice tribute.
Here is a photo taken at the rally mentioned above by Mike Rogers, with Darol giving his talk on restoring a vintage trailer, April 12, 2008.

JDL · 01-11-2010, 11:12 PM

I too just got a note from Darol's parents letting me know of his passing.

I am very sad.

I will miss him and his humor, but treasure the time I got to spend with him.

C Johnson · 01-12-2010, 07:07 PM

It was sad to hear that Darol lost the fight with cancer. I too am sad that he is gone. It was an honor to meet him and hang out with him on different occasions. I learned a lot from him about my Caravel. He will be missed. Rest in Peace my Friend.

Mel · 01-31-2010, 05:21 PM

We went to the memorial for Darol yesterday. The service truly was a celebration of his life, with a room full of people, lots of funny stories, and much admiration for Darol's many talents. The minister visited with Darol just a couple of days before he passed away, and learned all about vintage Airstream restoration. He said he had never seen Darol so animated as when discussing vintage Airstreams!

Prior to his death, Darol adopted out his beloved Pontiac, and the new owners brought it to the service.

**Stefrobrts** · 01-31-2010, 07:47 PM

Thanks for reporting back on it. We were unable to go, but he has been in my thoughts a lot.

TGK · 01-31-2010, 08:31 PM

My wife Barbara and I were saddened to hear of Darol's passing in early January. We bought the 1971 Safari he restored back in January '05. We had been thinking of purchasing an older Airstream and, when exploring the airforums classifieds, we saw photos of a beautifully redone Safari. I punched in our zipcode only to find that it was located across the river in Ridgefield, Wa. We purchased it the next day from Darol. He was amazingly generous in sharing his knowledge with two newbies. We felt fortunate to have purchased our trailer from such a kind and sharing man. He will be missed.

CaddyGrn · 01-31-2010, 09:19 PM

We were unable to take to the road to attend Darol's Memorial Service yesterday, had we both been over this flu/cold/bug we would have made a quick trip. We received a thoughtful note from family members that Darol had passed ~ it seems they must have had to write a lot of those sad notes. Hard work for his family.

Mel, thank you for reporting on the services, we are so glad his life was celebrated! I hope they told at least one Sven & Ollie joke!

I have a few photos to share, from the last Area 33 rally that Darol attended. Those who were there will clearly remember the anticipation of what kind of trailer Darol would bring! All he would tell us was he was bringing a surprise! And in typical Darol fashion

he drove up in his marvelous hand crafted Retro Pod and the crowd went wild!

The other pics are from his yard... he loved his home and was very proud to host company. At his home, in his workshop, everything had a place, and everything was always in its place!

CaddyGrn · 01-31-2010, 09:25 PM

At the Vernonia Rally in July 2008 Darol attended ~ Don and I met him at his home and drove with him to the rally. At the time he was getting blood transfusions to help him stay healthy while they were testing and searching for a matching bone marrow donor. Darol became too tired to stay through the whole rally, but he brought wonderful gifts for all of his friends. He had carefully and lovingly gone through his garden of daffodil bulbs and had little bags of bulbs for everyone who wanted them.

We brought ours home and planted them along our front sidewalk area ~ the next spring they came up (see below) and I sent a picture of them to Darol, they seem like such happy flowers, rather like Darol was. Our daffodils will pop up likely within the next month, it will bring fond memories of this great guy!

Mel · 02-01-2010, 08:05 AM

Claudia, no Sven and Ollie jokes (at least during the service, but they may have surfaced at the luncheon afterwards!) The RetroPod story was a part of the service, though!

Another important thing - Darol told the minister to make sure that his gratitude for all of the cards, notes, and encouragement was passed along. Every kind thought that was sent his way helped him, and he knew he had a lot of people pulling for him.

silverleeper · 02-01-2010, 08:53 AM

Words escape me right now so I will let the photos speak for themselves.

silverleeper · 02-01-2010, 08:58 AM

A few more.

TGK · 02-01-2010, 11:01 AM

I've attached a few photos of the 1971 Safari my wife & I purchased from Darol in January 2005. It was our 1st Airstream and we fell in love with it. He changed the layout of the trailer, opening it up with a large kitchen and beautiful woodwork. It is rare that we don't think of him whenever we take it out. He was generous in sharing his ample knowledge with two novices.

Gerr · 02-01-2010, 03:00 PM

Thanks Mel and Lee for keeping us in the loop about the service. He truly was a remarkable person. He will not be forgotton.

JDL · 02-02-2010, 12:54 AM

I also was able to attend. It was a beautiful service.

After - I was able to meet the original owner of the Pontiac Star Chief. She is now in her nineties and is full of spunk.

Darol will be missed.

jd