SENIOR LIVING
Marietta’s Lillian Darden: continuing her
father’s legacy through care for local elders
Let us help you remember your Loved Ones
Quality Silks
Beautiful Flowers
Ground Vase
Niche Vase
Mausoleum Vase
Monument Saddle
178 FACTBOOK 2020
By Thomas Hartwell
thartwell@mdjonline.com
Immediately after entering the Wesley Woods senior living
facility off Clifton Road, Marietta resident Lillian Darden lit up,
greeting residents with genuine excitement.
They seemed drawn to her — one resident recognized her
with obvious delight after more than 20 years had passed; another,
who she’d never met before, approached to ask how she might
get the stain on her favorite sweater out, a problem Darden told
her could be solved with some Shout stain remover and a little
elbow grease. If the stain still didn’t come out, Darden told the
woman, wear it anyway, if it’s her favorite.
Diane Vaughan is president of the nonprofit Foundation of
Wesley Woods, which raises money for the 10 Wesley Woods
senior living facilities across north Georgia. The facilities, which
provide housing and services for older adults, are maintained by
Wesley Woods Senior Living.
Vaughan said Darden’s contagious enthusiasm for seniors is
the reason she came to Wesley Woods after a 30-year career in
fundraising at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
“Lillian exudes passion for life, (and) her love for older adults
is evident in everything she does,” Vaughan said.
Darden: My father was a visionary
Darden is well known in Marietta as the wife of former U.S.
Rep. Buddy Darden, D-Marietta.
Lillian Darden’s obvious passion for the well-being of the
elderly residents at Wesley Woods is rooted in her upbringing
and lifelong connection to the facility. Her father, Warren Candler
Budd, founded the organization, which began as a ministry
of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist
Church.
Budd was a Methodist minister, and Lillian Darden grew up
in the church, heavily involved in the agendas of her father, who
she described as a “visionary.” He began his ministry in Hardwick,
Georgia, near a state hospital, where Lillian Darden said
he developed a deep concern for “the plight of the elderly and
for children.”
“They were sent to Milledgeville state hospital as senile or
abandoned,” she said. “And so he began the quest for how to
solve these problems.”
Lillian Darden said she grew up visiting elderly people in the
various churches, and later at the facilities the Wesley Woods
nonprofit foundation supports. She said her father saw a need
for geriatric care and affordable housing long before those topics
took center stage on national platforms.
Her father’s assignment in 1950 to Glenn Memorial United
Many families return to the
cemetery each season to
exchange their silk flowers.
A local company, Flowers For
Cemeteries, has designed a
line of beautiful quality
silk flowers for cemetery vases
and monuments.
Also available at your
select Kroger.
Products vary from store to store.
Flowers For Cemeteries, Inc.
861 Washington Ave NE | Marietta, 30060
770-428-8883 | www.flowersforcemeteries.com
/www.flowersforcemeteries.com
link