Obituary of Donna Darby

Donna Leopard Darby WEST COLUMBIA-Mrs. Donna Leopard Darby, 65, died suddenly, February 22, at her home. Mrs. Darby was born August 5, 1945, in New Bern, N.C. She was the daughter of the late Aaron Thomas and Betty Cutler Leopard, and devoted wife to Fred G. Darby for the past 44 years. The family will receive visitors at the Mt. Hebron United Methodist Church fellowship hall on Thursday, February 24, at 2:00 p.m. The service will be held at 3:00 p.m. in the church sanctuary, followed by burial in the church cemetery. The service will be officiated by Rev. John Culp and Rev. Larry Hays. Mrs. Darby was a graduate of Brookland-Cayce High School, Columbia College, and the University of South Carolina. She was devoted to the education of all children, but her passion and expertise was in the identification and education of gifted children. She began her 44 years of service in education as a teacher in Charleston in 1967, and then served in Lexington District 2 in West Columbia as a teacher, helping to start the first gifted program in the district, and eventually as an administrator until 1997. From 1998-2000, Mrs. Darby specialized in providing services to school districts and teachers across South Carolina. These services included improvement of SAT scores, teaching classes for teacher endorsement in gifted education, the development of the South Carolina Performance Tasks, assistance in gifted programming in greatest needs districts, and literacy coaching. She was the teacher training coordinator for Project Breakthrough, a Jacob Javits federal grant, funded to assist in the education of bright students living in poverty. In 2000, Mrs. Darby helped found Carolinian Consultancy, a West Columbia company which is a testing contractor for the State Department of Education. This company specializes in the administration and scoring of the South Carolina Performance Tasks. These tasks identify gifted and talented students, particularly those from minority groups and children who live in poverty. The mission of the company and the Performance Tasks assessment were a great source of pride for her. In addition, Mrs. Darby was a long-time member of the Board of Directors of the South Carolina Consortium for Gifted Education, serving as its President from 1993-95, and in recent years as a consultant to the Board. Among her many accomplishments and honors, Mrs. Darby served on the Advisory Board to the Center for Gifted Education at the College of William and Mary. She was also very honored and humbled to receive the 2006 National Association for Gifted Children's President's Award in recognition of her support of and positive influence in gifted education policy. Mrs. Darby was a devoted advocate for children and gifted education. Mrs. Darby's memory lives on in the lives of her loving husband, Fred; daughter Leigh Darby Sloan, married to Roger, living in Dillon, SC; and daughter Erin Darby FitzGerald, married to Tim, living in West Columbia, SC. Family meant everything to Mrs. Darby, and she extended her love of service in education to her two daughters, who continue their mother's legacy in the field of public education. She was most proud of her three granddaughters, Darby Sloan, Maggie Sloan and Caitlin FitzGerald, and her two grandsons, Cutler FitzGerald and Carson Sloan. GranDonna instilled in each of them the gift of the love of learning they will always treasure. Memorials may be made to the Mt. Hebron United Methodist Church Memorial Fund, 3050 Leaphart Rd., West Columbia, SC, 29169, or the Brookland-Cayce High School Educational Foundation, 1300 State St., Cayce, SC, 29033. Thompson Funeral Home of Lexington is handling the arrangements. Family and friends may sign online guest book at www.thompsonsfuneral.com