Harry J. Darge
Name to Grandchildren: Papa
Name on Birth Certificate: Darge (not Darga)
Name on Death Certificate: Harry Darge
Although born as Jerome, he was always called Harry from his early days.
All legal documents refer to him as Harry Darge.

Birth: 21 Dec 1911, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan
Death: 14 Dec 1990, at home in Berkley, Oakland, Michigan, one week short of his 79th birthday
Cause of Death: Ventricular Arrhythmia
Buried: Cremated, Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan, Wayne County

Marriage:
28 Oct 1933, Detroit, MI to Cecilia (Sally) Sophia LaBudie
Children with Sally:
Philip Jerome Darge, Roy Joseph Darge, Carl Anthony Darge, Alan James Darge, Ann Darge, and Jan Thomas Darge

A personal note about this page from Alan Darge, the creator of this website --
This page and the Cecilia (Sally) Sophia Labudie page are the absolute heart of this Darge/Labudie Family Tree project. These two pages are the link between the two families. Harry and Sally are my parents and were certainly two of the hardest working people I have ever known. They always took on more work than they should have; many were charity projects. So, their blood flows through me and my children, seeding the inspiration to take on this huge programming project... The Darge Family website

He quit school after the 7th grade to go to work hanging gutters and doing sheet metal work to help bring in money to the family. The truant officers were always looking for him.
Harry and Sally lived on Payton St. in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan.  They moved in late summer of 1952, just after Jan was born, to Berkley, Oakland County, Michigan.  They lived as a family of seven (Ann passed away at 2 weeks old in Detroit) at 1576 Earlmont in Berkley, Michigan. All five boys were raised in the house and many family reunions and parties were held there.
Harry passed away one week before his 79th birthday in 1990 at home on Earlmont.  Sally continued to live there alone for several years before moving to a smaller house in Beverly Hills, MI.

"My dad was a quiet, loving father. He was a true blue-collar worker and an extremely talented sheet metal man and a life-long perfectionist. He taught all of his sons the heating and sheet metal craft. I will always remember him with a white tee shirt and bib overalls. He worked a lot of Sundays, but always went to church before work proving his deep religious beliefs.
He truly disliked educated people such as doctors and lawyers and believed that his seventh grade education was good enough." -Alan Darge (son)

"My fathers' name is Ralph. He was a tin knocker like Harry and Ed [Snub] Darge." -Randy Darge (2nd cousin)

"I don't think any of us grandkids will ever forget watching John Wayne movies with Papa on the old VCR that ejected from the top rather than the front." -Lindsay Darge (granddaughter)

"Papa used to rock me to sleep in teddy everyday for my nap.  I can still remember the creaking noise that the chair made." -Racheal Darge (granddaughter)

Funeral Card provided by son Alan Darge
Death Certificate provided by son Alan Darge
Memory of son Alan Darge
Informant on Death Certificate: Alan Darge (son)
Detroit Free Press Newspaper Obituary