Raymond Winston DARNELL

DARNELL, Raymond Winston, passed away peacefully on November 9. He was the eldest son of the late William Marvin Darnell and Ecca Carpenter Darnell of Orange, Va. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Virginia Singleton Darnell; and his brother, Samuel Edward Darnell (Mary Virginia) of Charlottesville, Va. Other survivors include his niece, Dianne Darnell Hughes (Michael) of Warrenton, Va.; nephews, Robert Ford Darnell (Jo) of Hickory, N.C. and James Dare Darnell of Orange; and a number of great-nieces and nephews. Two brothers, Robert Ford Darnell of Orange and William Phillip Darnell of Richmond predeceased him. He served in WWII in the U.S. Air Force and was stationed overseas in England and Scotland. In Scotland, he served as the Air Force's chief dispatcher at Prestwick Airport. A graduate of Richmond Professional Institute (now Virginia Commonwealth University), he started a furniture cleaning business. His brother, Phillip, joined him later and they had a furniture cleaning and renovating business for over 40 years, Darnell's, Inc. He was a member of the Orange Masonic Lodge for 67 years, the Scottish Rite Bodies and ACCA Temple in Richmond. He sang with the ACCA Chanters for over 50 years. He was a member of First Baptist Church, Richmond, and the Gold Band Sunday School class for 63 years. Visitation at Bennett's Funeral Home, Mechanicsville Chapel, 2 to 5 p.m. Wednesday. Services will be held at First Baptist Church, Monument and Boulevard, at 10 a.m. on Thursday. Interment will follow at Forest Lawn Cemetery.
This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.