Among the items that Vivian Darst uncovered inside the home of her father Friday was his birth certificate.

The fact that San de Fuca was listed as the town of his birth on April 21, 1919 revealed just how long Earle Darst had been around.

Earle Darst died Tuesday at the age of 96 inside his San de Fuca home, only a quarter-mile away from the cottage where he was born.

Darst was known around North and Central Whidbey for his decades in the bulb farming industry, was a founding member of the Island County Historical Society, formed in 1949, and is linked to one of Oak Harbor’s prominent early pioneers.

His great grandfather was Capt. Edward Barrington, who at one time in the 19th century owned most of the land on Oak Harbor’s historic waterfront and opened the town’s first business.

Darst suffered two broken hips in the past year, which kept him mostly homebound.

He still got around with a walker until he recently developed pneumonia.

As recently as four weeks ago, Darst was helping paint the railings on his back porch and even spent a night out at the Tyee Restaurant in Coupeville on karaoke night.

“He sang ‘Pretty Woman,’” Vivian Darst said.

Vivian Darst, who followed her father’s passion for flowers by opening The Flower Lady florist shop in Seattle, came to expect the unexpected from her dad.

Earle Darst was still driving a cut flower-delivery route from Bellingham to Tacoma at the age of 95.

Darst was known as an eloquent public speaker, a poet and was mechanically gifted in that he could build most anything, his daughter said.

He contributed to some of the writing in one of the books about Whidbey Island’s history authored by his niece, Peggy Darst Townsdin.

“I think the remarkable thing about his life since he lived so long at 96 is he lived here when there was no electricity,” Vivian Darst said. “Maybe there were cars some place. He wrote that San de Fuca didn’t have electricity till like the 1930s so he grew up in the first 11 years of his life with no electricity.

“He built his own car in the 30s. He was such a remarkable designer of equipment. He designed all the different kinds of equipment they used in the bulb business to dig the bulbs and plant the bulbs. Then he saw all these changes all the way up to modern day.

“He started with just like basic life skills here when things were fun as a kid. I thought I had a great time. It sounded like he even had a better time as a kid with the things he got to do around here in those early days.”

Darst, a 1937 graduate of Coupeville High School, also was a talented athlete who rowed for the University of Washington and later Oregon State University.

He also served in the U.S. Army.

A celebration of Darst’s life will be held 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 29, at the San de Fuca Community Chapel, which is located at 734 Wall St.

The public is invited.