(darius) Darius Van d'Rhys

There's not much I can add to all the memories everyone had of Darius..she was a kind, generous online friend and I will miss her and her blog. Like so many others, I had hopes of one day meeting her. Rest on peace, my friend..

Thank you, Darius, for all the life lessons you taught us - in your articles, in your blog, and in the thousands of conversation threads here. You and your lessons will not be forgotten. Rest in peace in that beautiful eternal garden.

You will be missed Darius.

She was a very special lady. I am sadden that I have not kept in touch. I met her, Stacey, and Janet way back at the first DG Round I went to in Georgia. May they all rest in peace in Gods awesome gardens above.

I have some pics on a disk from the round and will try to find it and post some since they contain some very special people DG has lost over the yrs.

Darius lives on through our memories and her writings even though her physical self is gone. She will certainly be missed here when we have questions, and things we would like to share with her. We were blessed to have shared her life.

only found a couple of pics. Many are missing
edited to say these pic are from 2003

This message was edited Mar 20, 2014 12:50 PM

I'm so sorry to hear about Darius, she has been an integral part of Dave's Garden. She will be missed by many.

Darius & Stacey
with Cindy?
with Bonnie

OH, my!!! These are from 2003???? 20 years ago!

Darius already looks frail in these pictures.
I hope it is not rude of me to ask how old she was when she passed?

Gita

2003 would only be 11 years ago, not 20. Darius went through varying episodes of
poor health and that may have been a challenging time.

I saw something somewhere which would have put her as being born about 1940.

Really--That would make her younger than me---I just turned 77. Shhhhhhhhhhhh...

I am at such a loss over this news. I have been out of touch with many that I regret, but mostly for Darius. Time is too short and I should have called her when I thought I should.

I met Darius at the KY RU in 2004. She invited me to drive back to Fla via the mountains to avoid hurricane Ivan. I declined and went back to buy this place.. A couple years later, when i moved here, she came to stay with us and helped to set up the gardens, build our shed and teach many skills to my son. She was here when we had no power, but from a decrepit generator. She was the one who saw the power company trucks coming up the drive to hook us up. I can still hear her on that freezing December morning..."Molly, look who's here!"

She was here to take care of my dogs when we had to go out of town to work. She has always sent Christmas and Birthday greetings.

I will miss her so much......

This message was edited Mar 21, 2014 4:57 AM

Your no power story reminded me of this one Darius has sent me once in a DMail

"The fold-out sofa bed makes me remember a funny story. After I left Annapolis and moved to the NC mountains, I stayed the first winter in my mother's small summer house while they went to FL for the winter. It wasn't equipped (insulated) for winter but there was a small heater in the LR.

My Bowie friends came down on Wednesday for Thanksgiving and we had a fierce ice storm Thanksgiving day, and then lost electricity when the turkey was less than half cooked. We shared the fine bottle of merlot they brought as our 'thanksgiving' dinner! It finally got very cold in the house, and all 4 of us bundled up in my mother's fold-out sofa bed, depending on body heat and blankets. About 4 AM the power came back on and we awakened to a house way too hot, and a very over-cooked turkey.

I never think about fold-out sofa-beds without remembering that holiday. LOL."

Gitagal - Darius was only 74. These days that is a very early age for life to
end.

Oh boy, this is heartbreaking. Here is a photo of her where she posted on one of my threads..

I think she said it was an 8th grade field trip.

I just started reading recipes thread and was fascinated with her responses. i was not aware that she had some kind of ailment.

She must have been a very loyal friend to those who knew her.
She will surely be missed here at DG

My heartfelt condolences to her family and friends.

Belle

Robyn and I had the Great Privilege of counting Darius as a Friend.
I heard from her last Monday on my Birthday and was stunned when I learned of her passing.
She kind of adopted the ORVG as a floating home and was our mystery guest at one of the RU's.
She came up to me, plopped down on the tailgate, asked me for a light, shook my hand and said...."BTW I'm Darius....you must be Ric.. I've got some stuff in my Truck for you."
She gave us her professional photo studio lighting system.
Said she wanted to see it put to good use and she was bored w/ it.
I'll post some more later as I must leave for work now.
Leave with a VERY VERY Heavy Heart.
Rest Easy Old Friend!

I am so heartbroken and saddened to hear this news. Darius, you beautiful Lady; always so wise and eager to share your wisdom; and so darned cute with your wry sense of humor; you will surely be missed, and you will always be so very well-LOVED. May you enjoy never-ending peace and joy now, singing His praises eternally in His garden.

To Darius's family and loved ones, please accept my deepest condolences.

Susan

My heart aches. She will be missed so much.

I was so lucky to have known her for so long. She was truly amazing and a wealth of information. There wasn't anything she didn't know and if she didn't, she learned. She worked hard and I so admired her.
Rest easy Darius.

Close your eyes,
And just hear me sing,
One last long goodbye,
One last song before you spread your wings.

There's so much left to say,
And before this moment slips away

What a wonderful life,
For as long as you've been at my side,
And I want you to know,
I loved you so

The cold night calls,
And the tears fall like rain,
It's so hard letting go,
Of the one thing I'll never replace

And soon you will be gone,
But these words, they will live on

What a wonderful life,
For as long as you've been at my side,
And I want you to know,
I'll miss you so,
And though our days come to an end,
No, I'll never love like this again,
What a wonderful life
My friend

All that I am,
You let me be,
I will remember you,
For all that you've done,
And given to me

Love will remain,
This I can see,
Now and forever more
Because of you,
Now I believe
I believe

What a wonderful life,
For as long as you've been at my side,
And I want you to know,
I loved you so

What a wonderful life,
For as long as you've been at my side,
And I want you to know,
I'll miss you so,
And though our days come to an end,
No, I'll never love like this again,
What a wonderful life
A wonderful life
What a wonderful life
What a wonderful life

And with one last embrace
As the tears fall like rain you're gone
And with one last goodbye,
As you fade out tonight, you're gone.

I am so sad to hear of Darius passing to the other side.
I never met her but I read her posts, especially on the homesteading forum. She was so knowledgeable, brave, smart, capable and self sufficient.
She helped many people with questions and solved many problems, she was there to listen and comfort all who came to her for advice.

She was an amazing lady and I will miss her.
Rest in Peace Dear Darius.

I am so saddened to hear of Darius' passing. She was such a special person. Her knowledge was vast, her generosity knew no bounds. Though we lived a few hours apart I never had the privilege of meeting her in person. That did not keep her from being a friend. We shared a love of horses and she tried to help me find hay in a bad hay year. Her skills always amazed me. It seemed she knew how to do everything and yet she was always learning something new. Her health had been bad for quite a while but rather than sit around and wait for the end, she continued to live and learn and plan. It reminds me of the verse in the Bible that says "Occupy until I come." Darius lived every day of her life. Yet another lesson we can all learn from her. RIP dear one. You will be forever missed.

It seems she was EveryWoman...she was to each of us, just what we needed!

speedie---

That is a beautiful Poem.....

How can this be when I just spoke to her a few days ago!! She was one of a kind, unique and independant and full of life. I felt honored on the occasions when she called me with a question, usually related to cats, because I thought she already knew just about everything. I enjoyed many long chats with her on a variety of topics and the discussions never lagged. She was a valuable friend, we are all left with an enormous gap in our lives. Rest in Peace.

I met Darius here on DG back when I was new on here. We used to send Dmails back and forth about various subjects and I truly enjoyed chatting with her.

Darius, you knew something about a lot of subjects and I really cherished the time you spent chatting with me. May you be in the garden of your dreams now and when my time is done here we will finally meet face to face. What a joy that will be!!!!

Speedbien,

Talented!!!

Love the poem
Belle

Darius shared the same birth date as my mother, November 2nd but was 10 years younger, being born in 1937. This was one of many ties Darius had to my mother which is why I think I was so connected to her.

Her passing has really hit me hard. Still haven't wrapped my head around the fact that she is gone. I had just spoke with her last week and we were making plans for her to come spend a few weeks with me once I moved to SC. I had purchased a few things from her that she was going to be bringing down at that time since she wasn't well enough to make the trip in December when I was there.

She has always been such a wealth of information, laughter and joy. I will miss my friend...

Still reeling at the passing of our beloved Darius. There is a huge void in the DG family. Darius was everything that you have all said and more. At times she could ruffle a few feathers with her opinions but she was always willing to listen to what those who opposed her had to say.

Like others I could kick myself for not keeping in closer touch with her this last month. She was a wonderful support to so many. I swear there was nothing she couldn't do if she set her mind to it.

Remember when I believe it was her (or should that be she - Darius would know) that coined the term GOBs on Coffee. I can still hear her laughing about it.

Now you get to have the garden of your wildest dreams Darius. I know you will continue to pass on your knowledge, wit and wisdom.

I'll miss you !
Dianne

I will miss her.

I am not surprised that so many, and so wide spread, benefited from her wit, wisdom, and charm. She will remain an icon to our humanity, and a sweet resemblance to us all.

Darius actually posing for a picture at the 2008 ORVG RU.

Popping in at a Roundup and being surrounded by loving Friends.

Great pics ric, thank you for sharing those

Henry, those are great pictures of Darius and show a joyful side of
her. It's a wonderful way to remember her.

In her last post to me a couple of weeks ago, she was concerned about the drought. Then she said she had better plant her garden full of veggies as prices would be high. She won't have to worry about high prices now, though I (and so many others) will miss her advice and comments here.

Still, I am sorry not to have her garden along with me this year.

Darius was "quite a character," in the best sense of that phrase! I loved the depth of her knowledge and the humor with which she passed it along. DG is a true community because of people like her.

She once helped me find a nice piece of venison -- my dad's favorite, which I'd been unable to get hold of. She went to a lot of trouble to ship it to me, because, she said, she knew what it was to really want something and be unable to get it. I hope she now has everything she could desire, unlimited resources for her creative spirit.

Darius enriched a lot of lives, and I'm glad to have known her. She'll be sorely missed.

Thank you Henry for that photo! A wonderful image to have in my mind for her.

Darius was one of the first people I "met" when I joined DG in 2005 and found the Coffee and . . . thread. It's still hard to accept that she's gone.

The one consolation is that she didn't have to go through the long, slow decline she was expecting due to her illness. I think that if she'd had a choice, this quicker exit would have been it. RIP darius.