Died October 29, 2024
CEDAR — Donald Darga, 90, of Cedar, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, at home surrounded by his loving family.
Donald was born on January 17, 1934, in Centerville Township, the son of Frank and Katherine (Osga) Darga, a blonde-haired child that didn’t get his first haircut until well into his toddler years. On July 1, 1961, at the Immaculate Conception Church of Traverse City, he married Patricia M. Plank, with whom he shared 60 years of marriage before her passing on June 9, 2022. Don attended school until the 9th grade and afterwards had to work to help the family. He was drafted into the US Army, then joined the United States Marine Corps where he served his country honorably during the Korean War. Don said that he was the first in Leelanau County to enlist for the Korean War effort. After serving in the USMC he returned home and met his dearest Patricia at a Holy Rosary Church chicken dinner. Pat and Don moved to California and when the family grew from zero kids to two kids; they moved back to Leelanau County because he wanted to be a farmer. On January 1st, 1972, he started construction on the family home and moved his family into a completed house in April of that year.
