The Life of Mr. Darrell Vernon Maynard

Darrell Vernon Maynard, 57, passionate husband, father, son, uncle, brother, cousin, and friend, died suddenly Thursday, August 6, 2020, at his home in Fairfield. Darrell was a devoted family man who never quite lost his taste for adventure. Born on January 30, 1963 to nickel plant foreman Vernon Lloyd Maynard and banker Thelma Ruth Adkins, Darrell grew up in the small Appalachian town of Kenova, named for uniting the states of Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia. This was mining and logging country, on the banks of the Ohio River, where Darrell’s love of nature and the outdoors took root.  The large Adkins family was a stabilizing force for Darrell’s entire life. Grandfather Boyd was a coal miner and grandma Shirley ran the hundred-acre farm. Their ten kids produced many cousins who gathered around the pinball machines at Shirley’s hamburger stand and the homemade biscuits in her kitchen.  Sensing a curiosity behind his mischievousness, a fourth-grade teacher sent Darrell to science camp, where an affinity for natural history started to grow. Darrell devoured a subscription to National Geographic and found a hero in Jacques Cousteau. When the family went on vacation to Florida, Darrell chose SCUBA lessons with his Uncle Gorden over Disney World.  His nickname at Ceredo-Kenova High School was “Drift” and a cherished black and white photo inscribed “The Boys of 81” captures Darrell and his twelve best friends beneath the graffiti on a school wall: It’s Only Rock N Roll. He’d see the Rolling Stones in concert numerous times and eventually pick up a guitar himself. He enlisted in the Marine Corp and trained at Parris Island just like his father.  After one tour of duty, Darrell followed his sister Missy to New Hampshire, where he climbed rock formations like Cathedral Ledge and slalomed down Tuckerman’s Ravine on Mount Washington. Waiting tables near Mount Whittier in 1986, Darrell fell in love with his future wife, Kristen Leigh Kalm, her family, and their lakeside cottage. He was often the first to open or the last to close the cabin over the next 34 years. Their wedding on the Connecticut coast was on August 19, 2001.  Darrell’s charm served him well as a salesman, whether selling business credit insurance or hydraulic systems for sailing yachts, but he looked for jobs that kept him close to the water. He completed the Seamester program at Long Island University sailing a gaff-rigged Gloucester schooner from Boston to the Caribbean and directed the American Sport Fishing Association’s  national youth program. He attended Southern Vermont College pursuing a BA in Environmental Science. Darrell never missed one of Sarah’s singing concerts and theater performances or Josh’s guitar recitals and soccer practices. A devout Christian, he led grace at every family gathering. He enjoyed everything that brought his people together—amusement parks and roller coasters, berry picking and seafood dinners, video games and movies, and especially Ossipee Lake. Whether getting everyone up on water skis or fishing right off the dock, the cabin was the center of his world. In addition to Kristen, Ruth, Vernon, and Missy, Darrell will be deeply missed by his loving children Sarah and Joshua; his stepfather Jack Taylor and stepmother Gerry; his sister Missy’s children; Christopher Yates and his wife Abby and their twins Ryker and Maverick; Olivia Yates, her husband Drew Thomas, and their son Jake; and Josiah Avila; his brother-in-law Robert Kalm and partner Lisa Chang Nichols and their girls, Sarah and Kaitlyn; his uncles Dallas, Carroll, Larry, Gorden and their families, and Aunts Judy and Janet and theirs; and his mother-in-law, his “Mama,” Patricia Kalm. Darrell is predeceased by his grandparents Boyd and Shirley and Mosser Maynard and Charlie Mills, uncle Eugene, and aunts Dorothy, Marylou and Joann. Darrell's family will receive friends on Sunday from 3 to 6 PM in the Lesko & Polke Funeral Home, 1209 Post Road, in Fairfield Center. Guests will have the ability to greet his family in a safe, comfortable setting. His funeral service will be held on Monday at 11 AM in the funeral home with Father Sam Kachuba officiating. Interment with military honor will follow in Oak Lawn Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be directed to: The Maynard Family Education Fund, PO Box 2281, Shelton, CT 06484 (established to benefit Sarah & Josh). For travel directions or to share your memories of Darrell, please visit www.LeskoPolkeFuneralHome.com.