Lee Austin Darrington

Lee Austin Darrington of Smithfield, Utah, who celebrated his 82nd birthday and his 60th wedding anniversary earlier this year, peacefully passed through the veil to his eternal home on November 17, 2018, after suffering a severe hemorrhagic stroke. He was doing what he loved most right up to the end: serving others and his Savior, having just spent time in the Logan Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Lee was born April 19, 1936, in Elba, Cassia County, Idaho, the seventh of nine children born to George Amos Darrington and Mary Josephine Whitaker. He attended school in Elba, Idaho and Albion, Idaho, graduating from Raft River High School in Malta, Idaho, in 1954. He began studies at Ricks College and then served for two years in the Southern States Mission from April 1956 to April 1958. Lee married Delilah Durfee of Almo, Idaho, on June 3, 1958. He served as the Raft River Stake Mission President and taught seminary at the high school before returning to Brigham Young University in the fall of 1961. He earned a degree in Animal Husbandry with a minor in History and English in 1964, followed by a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration in 1969.

Lee was employed by the Church Educational System (CES) for 37 years. He taught full time in high schools in Idaho; supervised early morning and home study classes on Indian Reservations in Idaho and Nevada; taught Institute classes in both Idaho and Pennsylvania; and managed physical facilities in Arizona and Utah.

He has been an ordinance worker in the temple since November 2001. He served as a bishop for the church in both Idaho and Pennsylvania and as a counselor to the president in the Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Mission. His missionary service included stake missions in Riverside, California, and Mesa, Arizona and a current full-time mission in the Utah Ogden Mission.

Lee had a quick wit and a deep knowledge of the scriptures and gospel doctrine. His twinkling eyes, firm handshake, beautiful tenor voice, and kind words are remembered by all. He was always a gentleman, a great home repairman, and a cowboy at heart. Lee will be remembered most of all for his boundless dedication to helping others, from simply brightening a day and eliciting a genuine smile to rushing to the rescue in crises of all sorts.

Lee is survived by his wife, Delilah; sons, Eric Lee Darrington (Misty) and Russell Lyle Darrington (Wiloni); daughters, Lynne Hetzel (Sheldon), Anjanette Darrington, Kara Schofield (John), Kendra Luthy (Kerry), and Jana Rasmussen (Stanley); and by 30 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his sisters, Georgia Darrington of Washington State, and Linda Collins of Georgia. He was preceded in death by daughters, Melanie Judy (Barry), and twins, Tamara and Teresa Darrington; sisters Bessie Nye (John) and Evva Koyle (Lester); and brothers, Edsil Ivan (Barbara), Kent Norman (Edith), Neil “J” (Verna), and Martin Charles (Joanne), as well as his parents.

Funeral services under the direction of Rasmussen-Wilson Funeral Home and Bishop Jeffrey L. Heaps will take place on Saturday, November 24, 2018, at 10 a.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, located at 155 West 400 North, in Smithfield, Utah.

Viewings will be held on Friday, November 23, from 6 until 8 p.m. and Saturday, November 24, from 9 until 9:30 a.m. both at the church. Flowers and remembrances can be delivered to the church building at 4 p.m. on Friday. Interment will be at Sunny Cedar Rest Cemetery in Almo, Idaho.