Darel Hollinhead

 They say “live well, laugh often, and love much”; cliché only because it’s a true basis for what is important. Darel Huse Hollinhead was the epitome of these sentiments and parts from us with some of the strongest bonds one can have during a lifetime, something to truly be celebrated. 

Darel, born to Betty Rollins Hollinhead and Calvin H. Hollinhead, in Beaumont, TX, became a craftsman carpenter after a career with Baker Oil. He possessed a staggering work ethic, counterbalanced with adventurous life which led to several death defying events and countless stories to tell. Friends became lifelong and loyal, cultivated from school, work, and ski and SCUBA trips. Darel was a lifelong prankster and told of escalating retaliatory shenanigans with infectious laughter. One such story, after a prank played on him by John Everett on a SCUBA trip, Darel plucked John’s sneakers (which were drying on stakes) and buried them on the beach. He could not tell that tale without laughing hysterically, as if the listener was there with Darel furtively watching John search for his, unbeknownst to him, sand-filled shoes with major irritation. After SCUBA trips, he entertained fellow divers with parties that included photographic slideshows of the exotic wildlife (both of fish and friends) peppered with even more stories of the group’s collective antics.

Back at home, he stuck to a highly personal moral code based on hard work and always stepped in when friends and family truly needed a helping hand. Darel is survived by his sister, Beverly Holden and her husband, Daniel, of Lumberton; niece, Brandi Hamilton, of Lumberton; daughter, Tammy Swarthout of Vidor; granddaughter, Megan Lucas; and a host of family and friends. He is preceded in death by his parents and brother, Dana Hollinhead.

We miss him dearly and cherish his fun-loving spirit… not to mention, many of us live in homes he helped build, now a reminder to us of his love and loyalty.

A gathering of Mr. Hollinhead’s family and friends will begin at 11:00 a.m. with his memorial service to follow at 12:00 p.m., on Saturday, October 26, 2019, at Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont. A family committal was held at Broussard’s Crematorium, Beaumont.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research, 1820 West Webster Avenue, Suite 304, Chicago, Illinois 60614 or online at www.stopsarcoidosis.org/donate/.