Darwin Lydell Hines

Darwin Lydell Hines, age 71, of Moses Lake, passed away on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008, in Spokane.

Darwin Lydell Hines was born on Nov. 28, 1936, in Johnson, Neb., to Lester and Verna Hines. He joined an older brother, Verlan. At the early age of 9 or 10, Darwin started clowning at the "Hines" produced rodeos. He had different specialty acts, one of which involved a Shetland pony. Another act was with a spotted midget Florida swamp bull. This bull was shipped in a crate from a gentleman in Florida to Colorado, home of the Hines family. Verlan broke this bull, "Chico," to ride, and some of the tricks he was trained to do were to lay down, sit up, many other things on cue and to kneel at the end of the performance with Darwin. He was also broken to drive on a small buggy for parades. One highlight for Darwin was driving him in the Cheyenne Frontier Days parade. In later years, Darwin worked the barrels during the bull riding. Darwin attended school and graduated from Arapahoe School, Arapahoe, Colo. He went to C.P.A. college in Denver, Colo., for a short time. He moved to Montana during the winter of 1955.

Darwin and Marva Lou Entzel were married May 16, 1958. They were blessed with two daughters. Darla Lou was born Jan. 9, 1960, in Lawton, Okla., while Darwin was serving in the Army. Raquel Lea was born April 11, 1969, in Miles City, Mont. Darwin's time in the service was spent in Lawton, Okla., and Germany. He was honorably discharged in 1962. At that time he moved to the ranch Northwest of Terry, living there until 1966. At that time, he and Marva Lou moved to Terry, and purchased the L & M drive-in cafe, and later "Happy Charlie's Recreation Center." Darwin also served as Night Marshal in Terry.

In April of 1974, Darwin and family moved to Washington and he purchased land for a residence in George. He worked as a foreman in a feed products plant. He enjoyed spending time with his dog Flower. In 1981, Darwin met Pauline (Ruiz) Barnes. They were married on Aug. 22, 1982, at Dry Falls located in Coulee City. They made their home in Moses Lake, where he pursued his occupation of process service as well as reuniting families that had been separated or lost for years.

Darwin's favorite pastime was looking for arrowheads, Indian artifacts, and agates. He was also a Montana "history buff" and poet.

He is survived by his wife, Pauline Hines of Moses Lake, two daughters, Darla Hines of Spokane, and Raquel (Les) Bridges of Nine Mile Falls, Wash.; two grandchildren, Davin Hines and Fanesa Santos; a great-granddaughter, Alexis Santos; a brother, Verlan (Alice) Hines of Miles City, Mont., and numerous nieces and nephews.

Graveside services were held on Friday, Feb. 29, 2008, at 2 p.m. at the Prairie County Cemetery in Terry. Family and friends will meet at the funeral home at 1:45 p.m. to proceed to the cemetery. Stevenson & Sons Funeral Home of Terry is in charge of the arrangements.

Should friends desire, memorials may be made to the MS Association or American Diabetes Association.