Owner of plumbing business reflects on career, current state of race in the country
Since the recent death of George Floyd by Minnesota police office Derek Chauvin, racial feelings are raw, tensions are rising and most everyone has a suggested solution, which seems to only add fuel to the fire.
But Darwyn Buchanan, owner of Darwyn’s Plumbing, may have simplified the situation when he references Matthew 7: 12, which admonishes humans to treat others as they would like to be treated.
Darwyn, a twin to a sister nine minutes older, was born Sept. 9, 1971, in Chicago. The newborns had an elder brother and two older sisters. Their parents, George and Barbara Buchanan, made certain the family attended church regularly together. George was a mechanic and Barbara worked as a cosmetologist.
As a youngster, Darwyn was busy playing with his collection of Tonka Trucks.
“Our parents kept our family focused on the value of life, the importance of respecting every living thing, and that respect must be earned,” said Darwyn. “And, to always remember the Golden Rule. I think that’s because our grandparents held the key to family success.”
When Darwyn was 2 years old, the family relocated to East St. Louis and Darwyn later attended East St. Louis High School. During his high school years, he participated in wrestling and had a special interest in American history, The Constitution and science. He graduated in 1991.
Since his 14th year, he learned the plumbing trade from his uncle Terry Shannon. Darwyn contemplated becoming a carpenter, but ultimately chose to stay in the family business. During his years at junior high school, he met a young lass named Angela. They became engaged on Valentines Day in 1999 and tied the knot six months later on July 24, 1999.
He later became employed by Tiger Plumbing and remained there until 2012, when he established his own plumbing business, specializing in residential and commercial plumbing all over the metro-east and as far north as Springfield. Darwyn has obviously experienced diverse scenarios in his career, some humorous, others not, but all of them taught him something.
He recalls going to a mobile home where a pipe had broken, flooding the underneath with raw sewage. Needless to say, it was not a pleasant job on which to bid. Additionally, one of the residents had a contagious disease and Darwyn was not eager to get the job.
“I bid really high on it, thinking the homeowner would select another company,” said Darwyn. “But no, she chose us.”
On a separate occasion where Darwyn accompanied his employee, a white man, to a job, the lady of the house granted entrance to the employee and turned her aggressive dogs lose on Darwyn. He suffered their attack until he could make it back to the safety of his truck.
Other memorable job calls
Another call took him to a crawl space where it was very dark and difficult to see, but he did clearly see four eyes staring at him. He exited and encouraged the homeowner to contact an exterminator.
Darwyn acknowledged his most memorable call was from an elderly woman, Thelma Simmons, in her early 80s. The plumbing job was extensive and he let her know the project would cost several thousand dollars.
She did not obsess at the cost as many might have, which somewhat surprised Darwyn. Then, she explained to him that she had the funds necessary to correct the problem because “I never spent all my earnings and you remember that young man,” admonished Miss Thelma.
Darwyn took it to heart and has tried to live that way.
Family life
Angela and Darwyn became parents to five children: One daughter, Denishia, and four sons, Darwyn Jr., Stepvon, Marquis and Ty. When asked if he had had “the talk” with his sons about being young African American men in a predominantly white society, he responded “no,” and proceeded to tell why.
“I’ve tried to follow the paths taught by my parents and grandparents,” emphasized Darwyn. “Love has no color, people are people and all of us should live together peacefully. Society needs to change the way they think and to be the change you want to see.”
Darwyn’s take on ‘All Lives Matter’
In reference to the now-popular phrase “All Lives Matter,” Darwyn agrees but brought up an interesting aspect to the disparity existing in the media and social vernacular regarding whose life matters.
He said, “if your spouse asks if you love him or her and you respond, ‘I love everyone,’ that’s true but hurtful. If your coworker tells you his father passed away last night and you reply, “well, everyone’s parents die.’ That’s also true, but hurtful.
“So when a friend in obvious pain comments ‘Black Lives Matter’ and you respond ‘All Lives Matter,’ that is true, but it’s hurtful in the moment.”
Darwyn’s overall view: “You reap what you sow. Christ is coming back and we all need to work on forgiving one another.”
This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 9:00 AM.