Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

It is with profound sadness and grief we share the death of our beloved mother and grandmother, Barbara F. Darden. Mrs. Darden was born Nov. 11, 1934, in Columbia, N.C. and departed this life on April 1, 2022. 

She retired after 35 years of outstanding service as a business education teacher with Suffolk Public Schools. 

Mrs. Darden was a longtime, devoted member of First Baptist Church, Mahan Street. In addition, she was a member of Order of Eastern Star – Suffolk Chapter #31, Cypress Civic League, Suffolk Democratic Committee, life member of the Suffolk Chapter of the NAACP, life member of the Virginia Retired Teachers Association and a life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Zeta Epsilon Omega Chapter. In 2021 she was recognized as a Pearl Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha for 65 years of service.  

She leaves to cherish her memory a son, Theodore R. Darden Jr.; his wife, Monica and their children, Micah, Markus and Taylor; sister-in-law, Mary Fenner of Manhattan, N.Y. and a host of other relatives.

A visitation will take place at 3 until 6 p.m. with an AKA Wake Service at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the funeral home. A funeral service will take place at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 8, at Oak Grove Baptist Church and she will be laid to rest at Chapel Hill Missionary Baptist Church in North Carolina.

Expressions of sympathy and flowers may be extended at cookeovertonfuneralhome.com. Professional services are entrusted to T.E. Cooke-Overton Funeral Home Inc.