South Carolina H 4896: Rev. Joseph Darby Jr. sympathy

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 4896 Text of Previous Version (Jan. 14, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 4896

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A HOUSE RESOLUTION

TO EXPRESS THE PROFOUND 
SORROW OF THE MEMBERS OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES UPON THE 
PASSING OF REVEREND JOSEPH DARBY JR. OF CHARLESTON COUNTY, A FOURTH GENERATION 
MINISTER IN THE AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, AND TO EXTEND DEEPEST 
SYMPATHY TO HIS LOVING FAMILY AND HIS MANY FRIENDS.

Whereas, the members of 
the South Carolina House of Representatives were saddened to learn of the death 
of Reverend Joseph Darby Jr. at the age of seventy-four on August 8, 2025, a 
day after his birthday; and

Whereas, born in the 
Wheeler Hill neighborhood of Columbia, he graduated from Booker T. Washington 
High School where he was a member of the Honor's Society and served as class 
president. He attended South Carolina State College, where he was a member of 
the celebrated Marching 101 Band, and earned a bachelor's degree in sociology 
in 1973 from the University of South Carolina; and

Whereas, after college, 
Reverend Darby served as an employment counselor for a youth program with the 
South Carolina Department of Public Welfare and then as a juvenile probation 
counselor at the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice for thirteen 
years; and

Whereas, when the lure 
of service to the church called him, he attended the Lutheran Theological 
Southern Seminary and became an African Methodist Episcopal (AME) minister. His 
first pastoral appointment in 1977 was at Piney Grove AME Church in Gaston, 
followed by leadership positions at a few Columbia-based churches. In Columbia, 
he served as president of the Greater Columbia Interfaith Clergy Association 
and of the Greater Columbia Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance; and

Whereas, in 1998, the 
7th District AME Church of South Carolina appointed Reverend Darby to lead the 
historic Morris Brown AME Church where he remained until 2013, when he became 
presiding elder of the Beaufort District. He most recently served as a pastor 
at Nichols Chapel AME Church; and

Whereas, dedicated to 
his church, he served in such capacities as chairman of the Episcopal District 
Board of Trustees, coordinator of the state's Sons of Allen Men's Fellowship, 
registrar for the Palmetto Annual Conference Board of Ministerial Training, and 
member of the General Board; and

Whereas, devoted to his 
community, Reverend Darby was a board member of the Reid House of Christian 
Services and of the Daniel J. Jenkins Institute for Children. He was a member 
of the state education superintendent's African American Achievement Committee. 
He was active in the Ninth Judicial Circuit's Drug Court Program and a leader 
of the Christian Jewish Council of Charleston; and

Whereas, a staunch 
defender of public education, he served as first vice president of the 
Charleston branch of the NAACP and as chairman of P.A.S.T.O.R.S. Housing 
Initiative and of the South Carolina Coalition of Black Church Leaders. When 
provoked, Reverend Darby could pen clear, convincing prose, to set the record 
straight, dismantling an opponent's argument with facts and rhetoric; and

Whereas, Reverend 
Darby's impressive strength came from the combination of intelligence, flare, 
empathy, patience, and honesty, attracting the attention of civic and political 
leaders near and far. He sought basic fairness with a disdain for the politics 
of deceit; and

Whereas, he and his 
late wife, the former Mary Bright, reared two fine sons, Jeremy and Jason. He 
was blessed to see the continuation of his family legacy in four loving 
grandchildren: Jax, Zora, Naomi, and Julius; and

Whereas, the members of 
the South Carolina House of Representatives are grateful for the life and 
legacy of Reverand Joseph Darby Jr. and for the example of dedication and 
warmth he set for all who knew him. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the 
House of Representatives:

That the members of the 
South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, express profound 
sorrow upon the passing of Reverend Joseph Darby Jr. of Charleston County, a 
fourth generation minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and extend 
deepest sympathy to his loving family and his many friends.

Be it further resolved 
that a copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Reverend Joseph 
Darby Jr.

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This web page was last updated on January 14, 2026 at 04:10 PM