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Our First Rector

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Our First Rector: A Rememberance

By Paul Spiess
September 6, 1998

Darby Wood Betts, the first rector of the Church of St. Clement, Died on August 14, 1998 in Santa Rosa, California at the age of 86. He was born in St. Louis and received degrees at Washington and Lee University, The Virginia Theological Seminary, Columbia University, and the Church Divinity School of the Pacific. In 1973, the Diocese of Virginia assigned Darby as Chaplain of the Chapel of St. Clement. The chapel, which is now our parish hall, was built during World War II to serve Park Fairfax and Fairlington. Darby conducted the first service there on Christmas Eve, 1943.

While studying for a degree in ecclesiastical architecture, Darby planned our present church, placing the cross and altar at the center, where the congregation would gather as a family around the table. (See photo.)  The Vestry approved Darby's radical plan, with some members saying they voted "yes" only because they would not be there when the church was completed. Darby then knocked on doors around the neighborhood asking for money to fund the construction. Later he obtained a construction loan from the Diocese.

The first service in the new church was held on Easter Sunday, 1948. In 1950, Darby left St. Clement to teach theology at Columbia University, where he was also a chaplain. In 1960, he moved to Oakland, California, where he was rector of St. Paul's until his retirement in 1973. He founded Episcopal retirement homes, and settled in one in Santa Rosa, where he built a chapel similar to the one at St. Clement. Darby came to the St. Clement reunion in 1979, and brought his wife, Elaine, to St. Clement's 50th anniversary celebration in 1995, where he was the life of the party.

Through the years, Darby's vision has helped to make St. Clement a friendly church home. He saw the harvest and built a church.

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Darby Wood Betts: An additional view

by Morton W. Belcher, III
October 5, 1998

As one of the long-time members who was a parishioner during the tenure of our first rector, I would like to take this opportunity to share some of my impressions of the late Darby Wood Betts.  The earliest service that I remember having a chance to both see and hear Mr. Betts, as we then referred to him, was probably the Sunday closest to Christmas, 1948.  There was a lot going on at the 9:30 Children's Service on that Sunday, but as a result of our church' architectural atmosphere, the angelic sounds of the Junior Choir in the balcony singing "Angels We Have Heard on High," and Mr. Betts, I decided I would be even more at home singing with the Junior Choir as an additional "angel."

Beginning with the following school year, as I had joined the Junior Choir, I had a chance to listen to Mr. Betts both preach and sing.  He was blessed both with a very strong preaching voice and a great deal of intelligence.  But even though we young people were somewhat in awe of him, Mr. Betts always preached on a level that we young parishioners could understand. As a result of being in the loft, we also heard Mr. Betts strong singing voice...  I can still remember him singing the first phrase of the Venite (612) in The Hymnal (1940):  "O Come Let Us Sing Unto the Lord."  Music, to Darby, was an important part of the service.  And with this in mind, he had a note put in the earlier bulletins to the effect that "The congregation will rise on hearing the first note of the organ [hymn introductions]."   He was able to lure the late Mary Camm Adams away from St. Paul's in downtown Alexandria, Virginia to be our first organist/choirmaster.  He more or less left everything musical in her capable hands... and she at that time had a choir of about 25-30 - which usually filled the choir loft. 

Instrumentally, our first instrument in the present Marshall-Rutter Hall was an old but large one manual reed organ.  In November of 1944, the church acquired an old Moller tracker one manual and pedal pipe organ, which served until we moved into the present sanctuary.  Beginning with Easter 1948, a reed organ was installed in our present sanctuary with a recessed but yet amplified speaker in the ceiling, above the present Baptism font.  This reed organ serviced until Easter 1950, when, according to the late Edgar Parsons, who was then serving on the vestry, as a result of Darby's insistence, a, for the most part, Tellers-Kent organ reconditioned by the late Newcomer Organ Co. of Washington, D. C. was installed in chambers on either side of the balcony.

Darby always had a soft spot in his heart for our church.  He returned on at least one occasion to take part in a service with his successor, the Reverend Maurice Hopson, which was enjoyed by all.  Although I did not have a chance to personally see him at the 1979 homecoming, my parents both did and they stated that personally he had not changed a bit in thirty five years.  In addition, to the pleasant surprise of The Rev. Rosemari Sullivan, Darby also paid her an unannounced but most welcome surprise visit.  Moreover, many of you had a chance to meet him at our fiftieth anniversary party.

Although Darby is no longer with us, his musical and theological leadership have had a great influence on the parishioners he served at The Church of St. Clement from 1944-1950.   May he rest in peace.

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From the Santa Rosa Press Democrat

Darby Wood Betts
Aug. 20, 1998

Bishop William Swing of the Episcopal Diocese of California is among the 500 people who are expected to attend funeral services today for The Venerable Darby Wood Betts, a church leader and one of the founders of Spring Lake Village.

Betts died

Saturday at the age of 86 in the skilled nursing facility at Spring Lake, where he had lived since its 1986 opening.

"Spring Lake Village was his magnum opus. He was completely instrumental in getting the chapel built and he oversaw the building of the whole complex,'' said the Rev. Ronald McBride, chaplain of Spring Lake Village.

Betts was chairman of the Episcopal Homes Foundation -- an organization he helped found in 1965 -- when the continuing care senior community was under development.

A expert who lectured and wrote widely on church architecture, Betts studied at the School of Architecture at Columbia University and contributed to the design of several churches, including the distinctive Chapel of the Resurrection at Spring Lake Village with its central altar and wrought iron work of Sonoma County vines.

His body will lie in state from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. today in the chapel of his creation. But because of the large number of people expected to attend, funeral services will be held in the Spring Lake Village auditorium, 5555 Montgomery Drive in Santa Rosa.

The Rev. Betts had a long career in church service. Born in St. Louis, he decided to join the ministry after two years at the Virginia Military Institute. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Washington and Lee University, and later attended Virginia Seminary and The Church Divinity School of the Pacific, from which he earned his doctorate in divinity.

After being ordained a priest in 1938, he served as curate at the Church of the Ascension in St. Louis and later as rector of parishes in Tennessee and Virginia. His influence in the design of a new church for the Church of St. Clement in Alexandria, Va., drew widespread interest and in 1950 Betts enrolled in Columbia University's School of Architecture, where he also taught religion and was acting chaplain.

He came to California in 1960 and assumed positions with Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. In 1961 he was named fifth archdeacon of the Diocese of California and a year later he became Rector of St. Paul's Church in Oakland, leaving in 1973 to work full time as chairman of the board of the Episcopal Homes Foundation.

One of his great joys, his wife Elaine Betts said, was sailing on Penobscot Bay in Maine, where he maintained a home for 50 years in Castine. He was a founder and first commodore of the Castine Yacht Club.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his daughters, Victoria Stearns of Castine, Maine, and Catherine Betts of Stevenson, Wash.; his son, Darby Wood Betts, Jr., of Castine, Maine; a grandson; and brother, Frederick Beale Betts of Houston.

The family suggests contributions to the Assist Fund of Episcopal Homes Foundation, Box 1027, Lafayette 94549 or to St. Paul's Church in Oakland.

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Read about our current Rector here