Darrow was 78.

"He was a very stand-up individual, always helpful," said Fire Chief Richard Felner. "He was always a gentleman, and he was always there if you needed him. If you had a question, he'd always go out of his way to help you. If he didn't know the answer, he'd get it for you."

When Felner joined the department in 1959 Darrow already had been with "Fairfield's Bravest" for nine years. "I worked with him at Engine 2 on Tunxis Hill Road on the old ladder truck. He was just an enjoyable person to be around," said Felner. He cared about the Fire Department and he cared about the people in this town. That was his life and I had a lot of respect for him. He was the kind of individual you looked up to."

According to this obituary, Darrow, a 1946 graduate of Roger Ludlowe High School, joined the Fire Department in 1950 after having served two years in the Navy. It wasn't long before his fire duties were interrupted. That same year, he was recalled to active military duty due to the onset of the Korean War. While on leave in 1951, he married the love of his life Nancy Brown. Following his military commitment, Darrow resumed his career with the Fairfield Fire Department. He rose through the ranks, becoming a lieutenant in 1963 and a captain in 1968. He was subsequently chosen to establish and head up the first full-time Fire Prevention Bureau for the town. He became fire marshal for the town in 1975, a position he held until his retirement in 1990.

Assistant Fire Chief Bill Kessler, who worked under Darrow for 10 years as deputy fire marshal, described him as "low-key." Others who were interviewed used those same words. Apparently, getting Darrow's blood pressure up was a tough task.

"He might have had stress [with the job] but he didn't take it out on the public," said Kessler. "He had a way of making people understand, without raising his voice, why the fire code required them to do certain things."

Retired Fire Marshal Harry Ackley said he always remembered Darrow saying, '"We've got to do this the right way.'"

Ackley added, "His 'right way' was always respect for people in situations and understanding and to be a gentleman. We worked together on the original Tomlinson Middle School renovation [in the mid-1970s]. The building committee and the contractors beat up on him about the sprinkler system. They didn't want to put it in. It was required by code. They were trying to challenge him on it. He held his ground but he always maintained his cool and was a gentleman. He maintained professional integrity throughout every process I worked with him on."

Frank DeFrancis, a 32-year member of the Fire Department, worked under Darrow as a lieutenant inspector. "He never yelled at me once," said DeFrancis. "You get to appreciate that when you're not used to it. Some people like to yell. That's their make-up; but I never heard him yell."

Ackley said Darrow's nickname was "Knots" because of his seamanship and his vast knowledge of knots. Darrow also had the nickname on the license plate of his car. One time at the Fire Department, Ackley was having trouble tying a bowline knot during a drill. "Clarence stopped in for some reason. He sat down and taught me how to tie that knot," said Ackley.

When Ackley, a Vietnam veteran, first started in the Fire Prevention Bureau, which is the code enforcement and inspection and investigation arm of the department, he and Darrow had desks opposite each other. "We used to sit at our desks and laugh about some of the things," said Ackley. "We'd talk about development of the fire codes, tying knots and fire coffee versus Navy coffee. Navy coffee usually had a 5-gallon urn you got your coffee out of each day. Fire coffee sits in an eight-cup pot. At the end of the day it tastes like Navy coffee."

Ackley will be a pallbearer at Darrow's funeral. "Clarence was a true mentor and a great man," he said.

Ackley and others agree that Darrow was a leader of his time. He and former Fire Commissioner Art Selleck were instrumental in putting together the Fairfield Fire Prevention Code, which was adopted March 1981.

"It was ahead of its time then and still is in many ways," said Ackley.

Kessler added, "In those days it covered a lot of hazards that the state fire code didn't. It also had a requirement that all dwellings have smoke detectors." This was long before smoke detectors became a fixture in American households and before they were rather inexpensive.

Former Fire Chief Dave Russell said it was Darrow's thorough knowledge of building construction that helped him in dealing with the public. "He'd show the person another way [to accomplish the regulatory requirements] and he would demonstrate and [explain] how to do it," said Russell.

Kessler enjoyed working with Darrow and added, "He taught me a lot."

"He was very knowledgeable in building construction and he was one of the main reasons I stayed in the fire marshal's office," he said.

Russell said Darrow paid a lot of attention to detail. "There really is no measure of how many lives he saved because his inspections prevented any opportunity for a tragedy to occur."

Christopher Ackley, the brother of Harry and the fire chief in Westport, was a volunteer firefighter in Fairfield when Darrow was fire inspector and fire marshal. He also got to know him when both were members of the Fairfield County Fire Chiefs. Ackley said of Darrow, "He was quiet, he was professional and he was a gentleman."

DeFrancis, in addition to working with Darrow, used to fish with him. Who was the better fisherman? "He was," said DeFrancis. "I'd move out of a spot and he'd put a line in the water and get something."

DeFrancis had some good times with Darrow and recalled his knot-tying expertise. "He was in the Navy. He knew those knots backwards and forwards. They used to get him to train the guys."

DeFrancis added, "He was a great guy and he'll be missed." Darrow belonged to many professional, service, civic, recreational and church organizations and in retirement served as a funeral assistant for the Spear-Miller Funeral Home. In addition, he was an usher at St. Pius X Church.

"He was a fixture of the community and he's going to be a big loss," said Ackley.

He is survived by Nancy, his wife of 55 years; two sons, Roger Darrow and his wife, Sue, of Monroe and Andrew Darrow and his wife, Arlene, of Easton; a daughter-in-law, Corrine N. Darrow of Winchester, Va.; three grandchildren, Megan, Kelly and Christopher Darrow; a step-granddaughter, Amy Woodhall; his godmother, Helen Burcheski of Bridgeport; and his sister-in-law, Dorothy Livingstone, of Bridgeport. He was predeceased by his son, Kenneth A. Darrow.

A Mass of Christian Burial is scheduled to take place at 11a.m. today at St. Pius X Church. Interment will follow in Mountain Grove Cemetery in Bridgeport.