Victor Glenn Darnell was born June 26, 1936 at home in Coldwater, KS to Henry & Josie (Bliss) Darnell. He died August 31, 2024 in Oklahoma City, OK after a long illness at the age of 88.

He attended schools in various places from Freedom, OK to Coldwater, KS to California and finally Moorestown, New Jersey where he graduated high school in 1956.

When Victor was young his father was called to serve in WWII and his mother remained with the children where they were stationed in California.  The distance of the family due to war & circumstances created an unstable family life. Upon his father's return the family split and Vic was raised between California and Kansas.  He  lived with each of his parents, grandparents & uncles to be raised during his formative years until high school when he reunited with his father and his father's new family in New Jersey.

Upon high school graduation Vic joined the US Air Force and was sent to serve in Germany.  It was a peacetime era, so he enjoyed traveling Europe on his motorcycle during furloughs.  This is where he fostered his love of history and the open road.

After returning from the service, he attended Oklahoma A & M for one year before leaving to help family with farming near Coldwater, KS.  While there he met and married Minnie Samples and they made their home in Selman, OK welcoming two daughters, Vickie and Kaylene.

Times were tough & searching for more opportunities, they relocated to Enid, OK for work and to raise the girls.  Vic worked various mechanic jobs and operated the DX station for a few years  before becoming a long haul trucker.  This became his focus and took him away from his family for very long stretches.  He would go on to crisscross the country for well over three decades.  He received many awards for safety and miles driven.

Eventually he and Minnie divorced, and Vic would marry a few more times.  During this time he settled in several places including Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and back to Oklahoma in his final years.

He was a wanderer at heart and happiest on the road.  It was often a solitary life which he preferred, and he had many stories to tell from it.

In later years he enjoyed working on his pecan farm near Paoli, Oklahoma before retiring in DeSoto, Kansas where he loved growing and sharing roses with his community.  He particularly loved the Julia Child and & the Sophia rose varieties.

Vic was most proud of his daughters and his greatest joy was his grandchildren.  He would often brag about them and their successes. (he would also say it is not bragging if it is true!)

He was a tough man with a soft spot for his family.

Vic is preceded in death by his parents, brother Larry, and grandson Austin Walker.

He is survived by sisters: Barbara Brown of California and Linda Hubbard of Oklahoma; brother: John (Deborah) Darnell of Florida; and beloved daughters Vickie (Carroll) Walker of Edmond, OK and Kaylene (Larry) Reeves of Pensacola Beach, FL; along with five grandchildren: Mackenzie (Josh) Gibson of Edmond, OK, Connor (Emily) Walker of Hobbs, NM, Ian Walker of Edmond, OK, Alex Reeves of Charlotte, NC, and Sophia (David) Posinski of Oceanside, CA; & 3 great grandchildren: Claire Gibson, Wyatt Gibson, and Johnny Posinski.

Visitation and Viewing is from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Friday, September 6, 2024 at Hatfield-Prusa Funeral Home, Coldwater, KS.  Funeral service is at 10:30 a.m., Friday, September 6, 2024 at Hatfield-Prusa Funeral Home in Coldwater, KS, with Pastor John Lewis presiding.

Burial will follow the funeral service at Crown Hill Cemetery in Coldwater, KS with military honors.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to Folds Of Honor in care of Hatfield-Prusa Funeral Home, P.O. Box 417, Coldwater, KS 67029.