‘DJ Sir Nose’ funeral draws crowds at Winthrop Coliseum

The usual chirps of sneakers skidding around the basketball court were quieted Saturday and replaced with the sounds of a church choir, laughter and tears as family and friends gathered to honor the life of Sir Lawrence Darby at the Winthrop University Coliseum.

Hundreds of mourners, including the Winthrop University men’s and women’s basketball teams, coaches and colleagues of Darby filled up nearly a quarter of the 6,100-seat arena, where the father of four worked as a custodian for nearly 16 years.

Darby’s ivory casket draped with large floral arrangements, sat on display underneath one of the large basketball goals, where family walked by with tears in their eyes.

Darby died early Sunday, Oct. 23 on a rural stretch of Saluda Road in Chester County after a two-car head-on collision that left three people dead and one seriously injured.

Earlier in the evening, Darby was the disc jockey at a benefit party for a family dealing with breast cancer.

Darby’s Winthrop colleagues rememeber his undying love for the Eagles, his camaraderie with the basketball players and coaches, and his passion for entertaining.

Known as “DJ Sir Nose,” Darby moonlighted as a disc jockey — a career that expanded more than three decades that he was passionate about and known for in the community, friends at the funeral said.

It was a gig that he shared with the players and coaches at his other gig. After the basketball teams entertained the crowds under the big lights at the Winthrop Coliseum, Darby would return the favor.

At special events, Darby would break out his disc jockey gear and get the teams, coaches and colleagues dancing under his big lights, said Walter Hardin, Associate Vice President for Facilities Management.

“Right now, there’s probably a party going on in Heaven,” Hardin said to cheering family and friends. “And he’s got his outfit out there and he’s playing the ‘Electric Slide.’”

Half-a-dozen ministers, bishops and deacons led the funeral service on Saturday, sharing comforting words of scripture and prayers.

The Boyd Hill Hymn Choir belted out the lyrics “the love of Jesus will carry me” as the crowd cheered and sang along.

Music was one passion family and friends agree made Darby who he was.

“Sir Nose was a Picasso and a Michelangelo...he was a true artist,” said Warren Moore of the Elks Lodge in Rock Hill, where Darby disc jockeyed at parties.

“I’m going to miss this great man,” Moore told the crowd.

Earl B. Hunter listed the qualities he saw in his friend: self-control, loyalty, and kindness.

“I never saw this cat mad...he was peaceful,” Hunter said. “His faithfulness is what made me fall in love with this guy.”

Family member Donna Peoples described Darby as having integrity.

Once Darby disc jockeyed a birthday party for a 5-year-old and put as much passion into it as he would any adult party where he was bringing in cash, Peoples said.

Darby, she said, would always remind her of the “Whip and Nae Nae.”

The Rev. Jimmy Neal Thompson gave the eulogy and reminded the mourners that their lives could end at any time, and encouraged them to “prepare to meet the Lord.”

After Darby’s casket was wheeled out of the coliseum, Darby’s friend Veronica Erwin, who would visit him courtside, gently touched his picture on the service program.

“He wasn’t just the man who turned on the lights here,” Erwin said.

This story was originally published October 29, 2016 at 9:21 PM with the headline "‘DJ Sir Nose’ funeral draws crowds at Winthrop Coliseum."