D. Weston Darby, Jr.

D. Weston Darby, Jr., 89, of Honey Brook, Chester County, a former management consultant for law firms across the country, died after a short illness on Sept. 5, 2020.

He joined the Philadelphia firm of Daniel J. Cantor and Co. in the early 1960, and later owned the company that specialized in helping legal firms in managing internal problems and creating mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Darby retired in the early 1990s.

He was born on April 27, 1931 and grew up at the farm “Glen Hardie” in Valley Forge, the son of the late Jean Brown Scott Darby and late Donald W. Darby.

He attended the Haverford School, and graduated from the Taft School in Connecticut, and received his undergraduate degree from Yale University in 1953. He also earned a Masters in Business Administration from Temple University in 1971 and earned a certificate in advanced management from Harvard School of Business Administration in 1981.

Inspired by his father, a career military man, Mr. Darby joined the U.S. Marine Corps following his graduation from Yale and received a First Lieutenant commission in December of 1954. He received his flight training with the Marines and became a Marine jet pilot in June, 1955, rising to the rank of Captain in 1958. He was serving as an Aide-de-Camp for General Rote at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina when he resigned his commission in December 1961.

He was married the same month to Margarette Ann “Marge” Kortina at St. Bernards Catholic Church in his wife’s hometown of Mt. Lebanon, Pa. The couple spent the month of January on a Honeymoon touring England, Scotland and Europe. They repeated the trip in 1991 when they made the first of more than 30 trips abroad including Africa, India, and a Beijing-St. Petersburg trip on the Oriental Express.

Before starting his lifetime career as a consultant, Mr. Darby worked for the Freedom Foundation in Valley Forge. He and his young wife lived first in Valley Forge, and later in Chester Springs, Pa. The family moved to Honey Brook in 1969. Mr. Darby did the all the design work and oversaw the restoration on their 18th-century stone farmhouse and continued his interest in restoring historic area homes.

After his retirement, Mr. Darby was devoted to his farm and his local community, serving at one point, for several terms, on the Board of Supervisors of Honey Brook Township.

He enjoyed studying military history and collected many books about the American Revolution and colonial history. He also acted on that interest and extensive knowledge by serving in leadership roles in numerous historical and hereditary organizations. Among them, the Mayflower Society, the Colonial Wars, the Colonial Society, and the Sons of the American Revolution.

Mr. Darby was active with several clubs on Nantucket Island, where he and his family had a home for 40 years. He was a former member of the Nantucket Yacht Club and continued to be a longtime member of the Wharf Rat Club. The family also spent many summers on Eleuthera, an island in the Bahamas, where Mr. Darby designed and built a house and guest house.

In addition to his wife of 59 years, Mr. Darby is survived by his two children, Kortny Shearer and Bruce Darby and two grandchildren.

Internment will be private at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Honey Brook, Pa.