Bart Darrell

Current job title: Attorney with Bell, Orr, Ayers & Moore and president emeritus at Kentucky Wesleyan College.

Hometown: I was born in Jacksonville, Texas. We moved to Owensboro when I was 9 years old, and I grew up there.

Family: My mother and father are both deceased. My mother was a first grade teacher and my father was a college English professor. I have two brothers and a sister. My older brother, Bob Darrell, is vice president of Smithfield Foods in Virginia. My younger brother, Bracken Darrell, is president and CEO of Logitech in California. My younger sister, Shelley Darrell Chatfield, is the general counsel for Fayette County Schools in Lexington. I have eight nieces and nephews. I have one son, Michael Darrell-Hicks, who is the best thing to ever happen to me. He is currently a student at Western Kentucky University and is a starting pitcher on the WKU baseball team. We adopted each other when he was in high school at South Warren.

The one thing nobody knows about me is … my cousin Kirk Weddle was the photographer who took the picture of the baby in the swimming pool that became Nirvana’s album cover for their famous album, “Nevermind.”

My dream job … when I was in high school I took one of those aptitude tests. It said I would either be a lawyer or an administrator in education. I have had the privilege of doing both. But if I could have one job without regard to ability, I would have been the starting center fielder for the Cleveland Indians. Don’t ask me why the Indians. I have no good answer.

My first job was … as a kid I had many jobs. I did everything from working in hay and tobacco on farms, to sealing driveways, to working in a steel mill. In college at Kentucky Wesleyan I was a the courier for Central Bank and Trust and was a custodian at Texas Gas Transmission Corp. My first job after graduating from law school at the University of Louisville was with Bell, Orr, Ayers & Moore. That is what brought me to Bowling Green. But my first job ever was when I was 12 years old. Russell Jones, a lawyer in Owensboro, paid me $20 and bought me a cheeseburger from the Eight Ball restaurant in return for packing all of his law books and helping him move them to his new office.

The best advice I ever got was … my mother once told me to try to find something to do for a living that I would do for free if I could. She said that if you love what you do you have a chance to be great at it and you can make a real difference in the lives of others.

My hero is … my son, Michael. Watching him grow up to be a great young man has been the joy of my life. His doing well as a college student, and his fighting back from an elbow injury and surgery while at WKU to become a starting pitcher made me admire him even more than I already did. His big heart combined with his mental toughness and competitiveness inspires me.

If I could do it all over again … I would listen to my mother and not quit piano lessons when I was a kid. She said I would be sorry. Mom was right.

Part of my job I could do without … as a lawyer I could do without the time period when the jury is deliberating in a case I am trying. One hour seems like 10 while a jury is out. As a college president, I could have done without the summers on campus when all the students are gone. The campus seems so devoid of energy and excitement when they are gone.

The one thing I carry with me all the time … I carry an old baseball glove of Michael’s and a baseball every day. The baseball is the ball he threw for his first college pitch for WKU his freshman year. I had told him I didn’t think he would pitch much as a freshman. I wanted him to be prepared and didn’t want him to be frustrated. He disagreed with me. WKU baseball coach John Pawlowski put Michael in the game on opening weekend. The first pitch he threw was fouled off into the crowd and missed my head by only a couple of inches. I have the ball as a reminder that I really don’t know everything. Michael sure sent me a message!

The best meal I ever had … was the fried chicken in the cafeteria at Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas. My grandfather, Dr. C.E. Peeples, was president there and I loved going to eat there with him on Sundays after church when we visited him and my grandmother.

At the top of my bucket list is … I would like to see a Game 7 of a World Series, and I would like to get something I have written published.