NewsStudent LifeFaculty/StaffAlumniAdvancementService
Development office takes on Hanks' name
Apr 25, 2002 8:00 AM
By Stefan Eady - Faculty
Darlington’s development office, located on the second floor of Sydenham Hall administration building was named the Dan Hanks Development Office during a dedication ceremony held in the offices, Saturday morning, Alumni Reunion Weekend ’02. In addition to some of the current and former faculty who had worked with him at Darlington, Hanks’ three sons, David Heyward ’58, J. Daniel Jr. ’61, and Henry Douglas ’75, attended the dedication.
The naming was the result of an unrestricted gift from the John and Mary Franklin Foundation in memory of Hanks. The plaque hung in the development office reads, "Jeff Daniel Hanks Sr., valedictorian of the Class of 1927, president of the Alumni Association, vice chairman of the Board of Trustees, first development director, a Christian gentleman whose life and works brought both honor and success to Darlington School."
President David Hicks referred to a letter sent to him by Lee R. Redmond III ’70 related to the dedication. “Darlington School could not have made a more appropriate choice in honoring Dan’s memory in this way,” Redmond said in his letter. “I had the privilege of serving under Dan’s tutelage for two years. In that time I learned so much about human caring, decency, and civility. I can never once remember Dan scolding me, pulling me up short or even being critical of anything I did. (And Lord knows I made many, many mistakes!) Instead, Dan always found the proper time for passing along a humorous personal experience or ancient parable with my realizing hours later on the way to class that I had been taught a lesson and didn’t even know it at the time.”
According to the Darlington School 1994-95 Annual Report, Hanks enrolled at Darlington in 1925 as a junior. He was one of two literary editors of the first edition of Jabberwokk yearbook and was a member of the editorial staff for The Darlingtonian in 1926-27. He excelled in academics and graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1927.
Hanks worked in the School’s business office the first year after his graduation. Then, he entered Emory University, where he earned membership in Phi Beta Kappa, a letter in track, and a bachelor’s degree in history. He returned to his alma mater in 1932 as a math and science teacher.
In 1933, Hanks left Darlington and embarked on a 25-year career in the wholesale grocery business as president and principal owner of Hanks-Saunders Supply Company. In addition to serving as an active volunteer in the Rome community, Hanks served as president of Darlington’s alumni association for a two-year term beginning in 1955. In 1962, he was named a trustee of Darlington School. He eventually become vice chair of the board and then life trustee.
Then, in 1968, Hanks became Darlington’s first director of development and alumni affairs. In addition to starting alumni files from scratch, he wrote The Story of Darlington: the First 80 Years. He created and edited the Darlington Alumnus, forerunner of the Darlington Magazine, which he also edited. In 1975, he took the position of director of planned giving.
He received Darlington’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1989, and retired officially in 1990, after 21 years of service to Darlington.
The naming was the result of an unrestricted gift from the John and Mary Franklin Foundation in memory of Hanks. The plaque hung in the development office reads, "Jeff Daniel Hanks Sr., valedictorian of the Class of 1927, president of the Alumni Association, vice chairman of the Board of Trustees, first development director, a Christian gentleman whose life and works brought both honor and success to Darlington School."
President David Hicks referred to a letter sent to him by Lee R. Redmond III ’70 related to the dedication. “Darlington School could not have made a more appropriate choice in honoring Dan’s memory in this way,” Redmond said in his letter. “I had the privilege of serving under Dan’s tutelage for two years. In that time I learned so much about human caring, decency, and civility. I can never once remember Dan scolding me, pulling me up short or even being critical of anything I did. (And Lord knows I made many, many mistakes!) Instead, Dan always found the proper time for passing along a humorous personal experience or ancient parable with my realizing hours later on the way to class that I had been taught a lesson and didn’t even know it at the time.”
According to the Darlington School 1994-95 Annual Report, Hanks enrolled at Darlington in 1925 as a junior. He was one of two literary editors of the first edition of Jabberwokk yearbook and was a member of the editorial staff for The Darlingtonian in 1926-27. He excelled in academics and graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1927.
Hanks worked in the School’s business office the first year after his graduation. Then, he entered Emory University, where he earned membership in Phi Beta Kappa, a letter in track, and a bachelor’s degree in history. He returned to his alma mater in 1932 as a math and science teacher.
In 1933, Hanks left Darlington and embarked on a 25-year career in the wholesale grocery business as president and principal owner of Hanks-Saunders Supply Company. In addition to serving as an active volunteer in the Rome community, Hanks served as president of Darlington’s alumni association for a two-year term beginning in 1955. In 1962, he was named a trustee of Darlington School. He eventually become vice chair of the board and then life trustee.
Then, in 1968, Hanks became Darlington’s first director of development and alumni affairs. In addition to starting alumni files from scratch, he wrote The Story of Darlington: the First 80 Years. He created and edited the Darlington Alumnus, forerunner of the Darlington Magazine, which he also edited. In 1975, he took the position of director of planned giving.
He received Darlington’s Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1989, and retired officially in 1990, after 21 years of service to Darlington.
