Bill Darby wouldn’t give up his job if his life depended on it.
He turns 86 in two days, and he’s worked at the same job going on 50 years.
The Morganton native is the fleet manager at Sale Auto Mall — and he has no intentions of retiring anytime soon.
“I don’t want to retire,” he said. “What would I do all day? I’d rather be working than staying home.”
Darby enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1944 and was heading to Japan when World War II ended in 1945. He got out the next year and enrolled at what was then called East Carolina Teachers College, now ECU, where he played football from 1947-50.
A newspaper reported he was a standout halfback and referred to him as “Pirate Reliable.” Darby was less enthused about his and his team’s performance.
“That was me,” he said about the newspaper clipping, “but I wasn’t very reliable.”
He added, the team played “fairly decent” in 1950, winning seven and losing three, but lost at the Appalachian conference through rain and snow.
“At the time,” said Grant Jones, general manager of Sale Auto, “(Darby) was one of the fastest players at the East Carolina Teachers College.”
He was known as Cotton because his hair was quite light. Darby graduated, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in geography and minored in physical education. He said he couldn’t do much with his geography degree and the job market was “terrible.”
But he landed a job teaching cadets physical fitness at Stallings Air Force Base, which is now the Kinston Jetport. When the government cancelled the flight school in late 1957, Darby was out of a job.
“I had to take another job,” he said, “so I did.”
Around 1965, he was hired as a sales manager at Poole Buick downtown on North Herritage Street.
In early 1969, the dealership moved to N.C. 258 and U.S. 70. In 1987, Jack Poole sold the company to Dan Sale, who owned Sale Chevrolet next door.
Darby was included in the package.
“(Darby’s) been on this corner, basically, 50 years,” Sale said. “We call him ‘The Gentleman.’ He’s like our ambassador.”
Sale Auto Mall holds Bill Darby Day around his birthday.
Why?
“Bill, he is absolutely a consummate gentleman,” Jones said. “He is kind to everyone. He’s friends with almost everyone.”
Sale said Darby’s wife, Nora Ellen, a retired school teacher, tutored his children. He was the one who first called Darby “The Gentleman.”
“He always had something nice to say,” Sale said.
In the early years before the Internet, the company employees would sneak new cars into the showroom and cover them until the public was invited to see the new models.
At some point, Darby stepped into the role of fleet manager, where he handles outside courtesy deliveries.
“He’s done as many as 20 (courtesy deliveries) in a month,” Jones said.
In December, Sale gave Darby a lifetime achievement award for his long career in the car business.
“It has been a pleasure to work with Bill,” Jones said.
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.
Bill Darby
Age: 85
Occupation: Fleet Manager at Sale Auto Mall
How long: Nearly 50 years
Family: Wife, Nora Ellen Faulkner Darby; daughter, Kim Darby Laing