Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I know that many of you have camped with Darren ... plus remember all the beautiful trophies and other things that he made for us all. There are a lot of us in the KS , MO, OK area that camped with him at Crawford State Park in Southern Kansas last September. Shortly after he returned home he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. Darren passed away yesterday ... he will be missed.

Thanks for that info Gary. Sorry to hear that. Darren was indeed 'one of the good guys'!

DAMNITMAN!!!! So sorry to hear this as Darren was such a good guy and his works of art for our trophies at the earlier LCG's really helped make that gathering so special to all of us who attended and those who won them ...makes them even more special now for those won his trophies...as Harvey said, he was one of the good ones!!!

Gary, do you know the funeral home handling the arrangements and whether they have a web page for condolences. I'm sure his family would love to hear how he touched so many different peoples lives in such special ways.

sadjack.........

Funeral arrangements have not been finalized. I will update as soon as we know something. Darren stayed at his mom's house during his short battle for his life. He was being treated for thyroid problems and it was not diagnosed until late November that he had a brain tumor. By then the surgeons at KU Med Center advised it was too large to be able to do anything. Darren's mom has been so strong ... never leaving his side. If anyone would be interested in sending her a condolence card ... her mailing address is:

Sharon Bentz
14511 W. 68th Terrace
Shawnee, KS 66216

Darren will always be one of my favorite camping buddies. He had such a dry sense of humor. I will never forget all the times Macy and I were graced by his presence at a campsite.. He made several things for me that will always be a reminder of the good times. RIP Darren
Macy and Larry

I remembered meeting Darren at our first LCG. His campsite was just across from ours. Darren was the first one to welcome us and introduced himself. Being the preacherman, he was kind of worried about cranking up the stereo system maybe perhaps of "offending" the preacher. The tunes he was listening to was a combination of ZZ TOP and Queen. I told him that if he was going to crank it then crank it up loud so we could all enjoy. We got a chance to become very good friends on our first meeting. The biggest surprise was three beer glasses he etched for the green lantern with our names on them. Also I received one of his custom lantern globes. You could always find Darren sharing something around the campfire. Rest in Peace, my friend

Here is one of the globes that Darren made. I'm proud to have a few examples of his etching's. I met Darren on our first camp outing with teardropper's. He introduced me to Coleman lantern's with etched globes.

It is sad news to hear. My condolences to his family and loved ones. May GOD fill the voids made by his absence with fond memories of his being.

Here is a mug that he did for me (Cheers Darren!):



Todah

I never met Darren, but I had corresponded with him on several occasions through the Coleman Collectors Forum, he made a lot of custom lantern globes for the International Coleman Collectors Club, he will be dearly missed.

Here is a lantern with one of his custom globes lit up in his honor

So very sorry to hear this. Darren designed one of my logos for a "Women In Tears" camp gathering years ago. He was so kind and patient to do that for a complete stranger. RIP Darren

Sad to hear about this. He was a relatively young guy, as I recall. Definitely a nice guy.

CD

I won two of the trophies that Darren made for the LCG long distance award. LCG2 and LCG4. They have been on display in the house ever since. Really nice pieces of etched glass. Sorry to hear about his passing.

Jerome

Darren had just turned 53 years old, a couple of days before he died.

caseydog wrote:Sad to hear about this. He was a relatively young guy, as I recall. Definitely a nice guy.

CD

We all will really miss Darren and his great friendship that he was always wanting to help out =) He was a great artist and designer ..... seems like the good ones leave us early =( I wish I could have visited the last gathering of the KAMO camping sub-Group email earlier in the year =( I thank him for helping me fix my Coleman Lantern as well as others in the group here =) May I suggest a Gathering named in his honor .... 8-)

Darren you will be miss but never forgotten 8-)