Tribute to mother agnes darby

(May 31, 1927 – January 19, 2021)

from Christian Heritage Ministries

by Paul Meyerend

In her early 70s, when most retirees are relaxing with their families, Mother Darby began a decade of service to the kindergarten children of Christian Heritage Academy, a church school in the heart of Brooklyn. During those years more than 200 children and their families fell in love with Mrs. Darby, one of the most beloved teachers in the school. She drew upon her faith in God and years of experience as a public school educator to bless these children with the foundation they needed to excel academically and spiritually.

Anyone who walked into her classroom knew two things: 1) The children followed her instructions without hesitation. (2) They loved her dearly.

At one point we needed to combine two kindergarten classes with her as the lead teacher, and it was as if she had taught them together since the beginning of the school year.

The parents of the Pre-Kindergarten children heard about how wonderful Mrs. Darby was and could not wait for their children to receive the same blessing that so many others had already received. No one seemed to be concerned that this wonderful kindergarten teacher was still teaching in her early 80s!

As excellent as Mrs. Darby was and as deep as her faith was, she was also a person of great humility. As the principal of the school when Mrs. Darby first began to teach for us, I vividly remember a conversation with her about some of the challenges we were facing. She commented, “Pastor Meyerend, God is still working on me, too!”

During her tenure at Christian Heritage Academy, her daughter Rosalind Darby volunteered as her assistant. So the school received a double blessing! Mother Darby was also ably assisted by Mrs. Marlenas Fraser and Mrs. Araselis Fraser. All those who worked with her saw firsthand her love for the children and her passion to see them well educated, fulfilling the school’s mission to prepare them to be “productive citizens of the twenty-first century.”

Mother Darby believed wholeheartedly in the promise that God gave to Bishop Albert C. Delmadge, Jr. for all the children of our school: “All your children shall by taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children” (Isaiah 54:13). Some of the children she taught are now in high school and others are young adults. They all share memories of someone who loved them with unconditional love, taught them with unreserved confidence in who they could become, and gave all the glory to God.