With sadness, we announce the death of Nelson Jarvie Darling, Jr., 103, of Swampscott, Massachusetts, who died on June 18, 2024, at his home. Nelson once wrote, “There seems a lot to do and too little time to do it.” That intense engagement in all aspects of life seems to have been a theme. His eldest son, William H. Darling, Woodstock’s Chairman and CEO, recalls that when he mentioned he (Bill) was considering retiring from family-owned Woodstock Corporation and Agawam Trust, Nelson’s reply was, “You can’t retire when you’re taking care of other people.”
The importance of taking care of people, whether family, friends, or clients, also echoed throughout Nelson’s life, and contributed to the legacy that lives on today in Woodstock’s personalized approach to serving its clients. “My father really was proud of Woodstock’s philosophy,” William Darling adds.
Nelson was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, on December 27, 1920, to Nelson Jarvie Darling, Sr. and Jeannette Craig Devine. In 1922, his family moved to Swampscott, Massachusetts, where his father worked as the manager of General Electric’s West Lynn and Riverworks facilities. Nelson later married his sweetheart, Ruth Ward LaCroix, on June 11, 1948. with whom he shared 64 years of marriage. They had six children, 18 grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren.
Nelson served in the Navy in WWII from 1942 to 1946. He took part in the landings in Italy and the underwater demolition teams in Southern France preparing for landing in August 1944. He served in the Pacific in 1945 on the aircraft carrier USS Vella Gulf until V-J Day, and retired from the Navy in 1946 with the rank of Lieutenant.
Nelson graduated from Harvard University in 1942, and Harvard Law School in 1948. After practicing law at Ropes and Gray, he joined the investment banking firm of Paine, Webber, Jackson, and Curtis in 1950. He retired after 29 years from Paine Webber, Inc., and continued in trustee and financial advisory activities with family-owned Agawam Trust and Management, LLC, and Woodstock Corporation.
He served on the Board of Trustees of Wellesley College from 1962 to 1980, and for a time served as its president. He lived his life aware of and asking questions about keeping up with change. William Darling notes, “He was open to change but skeptical, and of the opinion that there wasn’t much in the investment world that was truly new.”
Nelson retired from most active roles in 2003, when Woodstock changed management, but continued to come into the office and stay connected. He was still driving at the age of 100, and when one of his sons asked him if he might stop driving, Nelson said he’d think about it—and then renewed his driver’s license for another five years.
Nelson loved classical music and served five three-year terms on the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) Board of Trustees as a board member, president, and chairman. He enjoyed traveling to destinations worldwide, including trips to watch his son, Thomas Darling, row in three Olympics. Nelson was also an avid tennis player, hiker, skier, sailor, angler, and vegetable gardener.
Most of all, Nelson appreciated being at home and walking the local beach. He was a thoughtful, remarkable, intelligent, and successful man who led a rich and rewarding life, leaving those who knew him with much life wisdom and many fine memories.