Outside of Norfolk spotlight, Darden makes big things happen

NORFOLK

Over the last four decades, Joshua P. Darden Jr. has helped many get elected to public office, raised hundreds of millions of dollars for community causes and run a highly respected business.

Yet his name is not on any ballots or buildings.

Instead, Darden has worked mostly behind the scenes with gentle, but firm leadership characteristic of a Virginia gentleman and the Darden name. Uncle Colgate Darden was a Virginia governor and father J. Pretlow Darden was a Norfolk mayor.

"He is the exemplar of the city father role, a role that may pass with his generation," attorney Thomas G. Johnson Jr., chairman of Willcox & Savage law firm, said of Darden, 72.

Businessman John O. "Dubby" Wynne said Darden's life credo is inscribed on a paperweight Darden gave him: "There is no limit to what one can do if one doesn't mind who receives the credit."

And Darden's done much, often without public notoriety.

Among the notables, he co-founded ACCESS College Foundation, which since 1988 has helped more than 25,000 local students go to college.

He was rector of the University of Virginia and spearheaded an unprecedented $1.4 billion capital campaign in the 1990 s.

He mentored 20 alumni of his Colonial Auto Group who went on to own or manage other dealerships.

And he launched CIVIC Leadership Institute in 1996 to groom future Hampton Roads leaders.

"Josh is a true philanthropist," Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim said. "He does things because he thinks they're worthy and not for any return.

"I don't know of anyone in the community who's held in higher regard."

A selfless, unassuming nature has endeared him to many.

"He doesn't suck the air out of a room as many high achievers do," said Wynne, former president and CEO of Landmark Communications Inc., now known as Landmark Media Enterprises LLC, which publishes The Virginian-Pilot.

"He's energetic, yet understated. He's persistent and thorough. He's friendly, gracious and gentle. He genuinely cares about the well-being of others."

Darden's family roots are in Southampton County, yet he grew up in Norfolk's Lochhaven neighborhood and now lives mostly on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. Before he was born, his father opened Colonial Chevrolet on Norfolk's Colonial Avenue.

Admittedly not a car buff, Darden delivered parts during summers away from his studies at the University of Virginia, where he was student council president.

He got his first car then, a '56 Chev rolet Nomad wagon. After graduation, he briefly served in the Army before joining the family business in 1959.

"It suited me," Darden said in a soft spoken, Western Tidewater drawl. "It's a fast business."

Darden's love for cars grew, and he later traded the wagon for a white Corvette with red interior, which he fondly considers his favorite vehicle.

In 1974, he bought out his father's business and over the next 20 years grew it to 10 dealerships as part of the Colonial Auto Group.

His business, which at one time was the 43rd largest Chevrolet distributor in the country, won many accolades. Darden was the only local dealer ever to be named the National Automobile Dealer of the year by Time magazine, which came in 1986.

Just as remarkable are the careers Darden nurtured and personally sponsored.

Under his tutelage, 20 former employees went on to manage or own other dealerships across the mid-Atlantic, including Charles Barker, Ken Hall and Tom Riddle.

He also helped launch the career of Roland Walton, who is now deceased but owned the largest minority dealership in New England, and Atlanta-based Ernest Hodge, a partner in what was at one time the nation's second-largest minority-owned automobile firm.

Darden offered extensive training programs to his employees, sometimes bringing in college professors and inviting other dealers to take part for free.

"He was a good competitor," said G. Conoly Phillips, who owned a local Lincoln-Mercury dealership. "If you lost a deal to him, shame on you."

As business grew, so did Darden's leadership in political, community and philanthropic causes.

Politics might be in his blood, but not running for public office.

He felt more suited to "enjoy the fray" from a distance.

Darden became the driving force behind a small group of influential businessmen who hand picked candidates for Norfolk City Council, helping get them elected starting in the mid-1970s.

What became known as Norfolk's "shadow government" backed many former and current councilmen and mayors, including Joseph Leafe, Mason Andrews, Joseph Green Jr. and Fraim.

Today, the name "shadow government" carries a nefarious connotation that amuses Darden.

"Doesn't bother me in the least," he said. "I'm proud of the fact that we worked for a number of years keeping good government going in the city."

Phillips, a former councilman who was tapped by the group, said the idea was to find people who se only agenda was to help the city.

"We raised the money and ran the campaign, then you didn't hear from us further," Johnson said. "It's one of the reasons Norfolk's enjoyed such extraordinary leadership. They were not beholden."

It's in the political arena where you find the rare Darden blemishes.

"It's a rough game," Darden said. "I find it unpleasant."

He said former Virginia Gov. Doug Wilder is "one of a handful I don't get along with."

Darden wrote an essay in The Virginian-Pilot in 1993 offering his analysis of what he considered Wilder's mistakes in office.

John T. Casteen III, University of Virginia president whom Darden hired while serving as rector, kept the piece on his desk for years, until the newsprint fell apart.

"It was one of the most principled statements of difference I've ever seen," Casteen said.

Among the few losses on his record, Darden co-chaired a group that unsuccessfully pushed for a transportation referendum in 2002 that would have funded road improvements.

"I lost that one two-to-one," he said. "Couldn't get people to voluntarily tax themselves."

Outside of his family - wife Betty, two daughters and four grandchildren - volunteer work has brought the most satisfaction to Darden.

His most treasured times were the eight years spent on the Board of Visitors of his beloved U.Va., including three years as rector.

His office is filled with U.Va. art, including a painting of his dorm room on the university's coveted lawn.

Casteen said Darden's contributions include recognizing nontraditional student groups as integral to the university. The campaign led by Darden that raised $1.4 billion also helped establish the school as a "global university that does not rely simply on state money," he said.

"Everyone had doubts about that campaign, but Josh kept it on target," Casteen said. "It grew beyond anyone's expectations."

Darden said he feels most rewarded by helping thousands of disadvantaged youths from 29 public high schools go to college with $225 million in aid through ACCESS.

Darden especially enjoys ACCESS functions attended by local youth. Bonnie Sutton, president of the organization, said thank-you notes from students "light him up," especially one recently that was signed "Love you dudes."

"It's the most exciting thing in the world to see kids who never thought they could go to college end up in college," Darden said.

His interest in advancing education led The Norfolk Foundation to focus much of its discretionary resources on early childhood education.

Darden served on the foundation's board for 20 years, the last 10 as chairman. As chairman, a seat he recently relinquished, the group's endowment nearly doubled from $107 million to $203 million.

"The defining adjective about Josh is openness," said Angelica Light, foundation president. "He taught me to pick up the phone when someone wants an appointment because you never know who you might discover and what you might learn from them."

Darden lunches weekly with whomever the foundation schedules.

"He really doesn't ask for money," Light said. "What he does is help explain the value of a community foundation."

Darden's other charitable work is too exhaustive to list.

"He's been a part of nearly every major capital campaign that's been conducted in southeast Virginia for the past 40 years," Johnson said.

In recent years, however, Darden has been fighting health issues and has vowed to cut back. Even though he moves a little slower, he usually puts in full days in the downtown Norfolk office suite he shares with Wynne.

"My wife calls it my country club," Darden said.

Despite his resolve to cut back, Darden admits he has a hard time saying no when a worthy cause comes knocking.

He recently agreed to chair a group through U.Va. that wants to provide business and management training to leaders in underdeveloped areas of Southside Virginia.

"The thought of staying home and doing nothing is scary."

Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com