Visitation is Saturday, March 14 from 10am to 12pm at Hope United Methodist Church in Marshalltown, Iowa. Celebration Of Life is Monday, March 16 at 10:30am at Hope United Methodist Church in Marshalltown, Iowa with Rev. Dani Musselman officiating. Interment will take place at a later date at the memorial garden of Grace United Methodist Church in Des Moines, Iowa. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be directed to Iowa River Hospice, Hope United Methodist Church or to a charity near and dear to your heart.

Born on September 27, 1928, in Perry, Iowa, he is the middle child of Commodore Perry (Bill) and Myrtle Grace Mitchell. Darrell attended a country school up until he was ten years old. In 1946, he graduated from Perry High School where he excelled in art, having won several national awards.

Darrell attended the United Methodist Church and was active in the Youth Fellowship. During a special evangelist service, he received a call to follow Jesus and later to become a pastor. He received his license to preach on November 2, 1947. Darrell graduated from Morningside College in 1951 and majored in Sociology and minored in Religion and Psychology. He attended Westminster Theological Seminary in Westminster, Maryland (later to become Wesley Seminary, Washington D.C.) graduating in 1955.

Darrell married his sweetheart Eileen Hart in Fort Dodge, Iowa on August 30, 1953. They shared 72 years together and were blessed with three daughters Colleen, Glenda and Michele, five grandchildren, and nine great grandchildren. They also opened up their home to several exchange students over the years; Jorgen from Norway, Anki from Sweden, Hector from Cuba, Mamae from Ethiopia and Christian from Chile.

In 1956, Darrell was ordained an elder by Bishop Ensley. Throughout his ministry, Darrell served churches at Gray-Dedham, Jefferson-Cooper, Hoyt, Kansas, Sidney-Thurman, Guthrie Center-Bowman Chapel, Mount Auburn, Dumont, Conrad and Marshalltown. Darrell was an institutional chaplain at the Iowa State Juvenile Home in Toledo, Iowa and at the Woodward State Hospital/School, Woodward, Iowa. One of Darrell´s church ministry passions was working with young people. He became certified in Marriage Enrichment to help couples better their marriage. In his retirement years, Darrell was a visitation pastor at Hope United Methodist Church.

Darrell became a fellow at the College of Chaplains, with pastoral clinical education at Topeka State Hospital in Topeka, Kansas, the Boys Industrial School (1960-61) Independence State Hospital, Independence, Iowa (summer 1968) and nine months of clinical pastoral education at Bethany Methodist Hospital in Kansas City, Kansas (1985-86).

Darrell went on a trip to Palestine-Israel in 1999 to study the conflict going on between Israel and Palestine. He later received a Social Action Award from the Methodist Fellowship of Christian Action in 2011.

Darrell felt it was important to take care of his body which led him to running. He ran track in college and later ran in the National Senior Games for many years. In 2012, he was inducted into the Iowa Senior Games Hall of Fame. He lived according to Hebrews 12:1. After running, Darrell found joy in bowling.

Darrell was an active Democrat and helped to organize the Marshall County Peace Fellowship. He was a great believer in nonviolence. Darrell would often find himself writing editorials, almost 300, defending his point of view.

Darrell enjoyed traveling internationally but enjoyed spending family time at their chalet on Table Rock Lake where he fished and waterskied. Darrell had many hobbies including gardening, painting, bicycling and cheering on the Iowa State Cyclones.

Left to cherish his memory is his beloved wife of 72 years, Eileen Mitchell; his three daughters: Colleen (Tom) Beck, of Des Moines, Glenda (Doug) Oitzman, of Queen Creek, AZ; Michele (Jamie) Irwin, of Marshalltown: his five grandchildren, Jacob (Laura) Beck, Joshua (Twila) Beck, Krystal (Paul) Stegmaier, Abby (Casey) Chavez and Sam Irwin and nine great grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his parents, a brother and a sister.