I'm the aunt of Darrell Harris, I am creating this gofundme to help his family raise the funds needed to lay Darrell to rest. All proceeds from this fundraiser will go directly to his mother Dionysia Harris to help cover costs for the funeral and other expenses that may arise during this difficult time. This was a very unexpected loss and please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers during this time. Darrell was only 17 years old at the time of his passing. Everyone who knew and loved Darrell saw such an old soul for such a young man. He loved art and music, He also loved being out in nature. Please share this fundraiser so they can lay him to rest in Colorado.

From the family:

On the afternoon of March 30, 2026 an unspeakable tragedy took place not even a mile from our home. Darrell Marley Harris; a son and grandson, a brother and a beautifully unique individual passed away on Lake Eufaula. He went out to the cove next to our home, one of the perks to the new home purchase he was most excited about, taking his paddleboard as he often did for a peaceful time of drifting on the water. He had told his mother he was going, but the day was windy and she warned him it would not be a very good day for it. She said she thought she heard him mumble something, but he was always quiet and she didn't hear what it was before he went back inside. He must have decided to go because when she came back from taking care of our birds he and the board were gone. She gave him some time, less than an hour, but had started to feel uneasy with the wind so decided to go check on him. She took the short walk to the boat docks where Darrell always launched from. Looking out across the cove she didn't see him, she didn't see anything at first. Then, between two of the house docks she spotted his board floating next to the shore.

I was at work as always, about 10 hours into my 12 hour shift when I got the phone call. It was my wife at first, but I couldn't understand her through the sobbing. My daughter-in-law's voice took over. They couldn't find him. They found his board but they couldn't find Darrell. I left work, but had to wait for them to come pick me up. 30 minutes...30 of the longest minutes of my life as I prayed that he just got off his board to go wander our woods. Praying that anything but the worst was true. Getting picked up and returning home I sat with my family as we watched search and rescue and Oklahoma Highway Patrol scan the water, the shore, the surrounding woods and neighborhood. One of the patrol officers on a boat whistled and called the attention of the others. We watched, wondering what they had found, if anything. It seemed a false alarm as the boats converged and then separated to apparently continue their search. We were asked to clear the beach, and decided to go to the nearby store to get some essentials and try to distract ourselves. The phone call about the sheriff arriving at our home to talk to us came shortly before we reached the store. None of us were prepared for the news he would deliver.

"We found him, but he has passed." My world simultaneously screeched to a halt and went thick. I couldn't move other than to hold my wife who was wailing, crying out in denial. My reality shattered as my heart did. This couldn't be real...I wouldn't wish this on anyone but I kept wishing when we went to see him that it would be someone else. It was him...skull fedora still on his head and glasses perfectly set on his face, dressed in his unique and particular style. As we wept beside him I couldn't help but imagine what his last moments were like, out there alone in the water. We have so many questions we may never have an answer to. But Darrell was a seeker of truth himself, and I know now he has the answers to everything he every wondered about.