WWII, serving in General of the Air Force H.H. "Hap" Arnold's office in Washington, D.C.

Korean War, serving with the 136th Fighter Bomber Wing in Japan.

Father: Hunter Darden

Mother: Sarah "Sallie" Rebecca Lankford Darden

Thomas Irvin Darden, 81, died August 2, 2008. He was a lifelong resident of Southampton County, a son of the late Sallie Lankford and Hunter Darden, Sr. Tom was also predeceased by a sister, Louise D. Vaughan, and two brothers, Harvey Darden, Sr. and Charles B. Darden, Sr. He was a veteran of WW II, serving in General of the Air Force H. H. "Hap" Arnold's office in Washington, D. C., and the Korean War, serving with the 136th Fighter Bomber Wing in Japan. Mr. Darden was a member, former Sunday School teacher, former clerk of Sycamore Baptist Church. He was a charter member of the Forks of the River Ruritan Club, and a former member of the Franklin Jaycees and Franklin Lions Club. He was a charter member of the Southampton Agricultural and Forestry Museum. As a hobby, Tom raised purebred show chickens, showing them at fairs all along the east coast. He was a charter member of the Virginia Poultry Breeders Association and served as secretary and treasurer for the first nineteen years of the association. He was a lifetime member of the American Poultry Association,the American Bamtam Association, and was owner of the Dogwood Retreat Antiques. He was an employee of Union Camp Corporation for forty one years and was the first manager of the computer department, serving over thirty years in this field. Survivors include his sister, Dorothy D. Cotton; his brother, Hunter Darden, Jr., and wife, Jean; six nieces; six nephews; sixteen great-nieces and nephews; and eighteen great-great-nieces and nephews. A funeral service will be conducted at 10 am Tuesday Wright Funeral Home with the Rev. Thomas Mabe and Rev. Dr. Roger Crump officiating. Interment, with military honors, will follow in Poplar Spring Cemetery. The family will receive friends Monday from 7 to 8:30 pm at the funeral home and suggests that in lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Sycamore Baptist Church, 31220 Sycamore Road, Franklin, Va. 23851 or a charity of choice.