rememberance: denis hoin darby 

Denis Hoin Darby, 72, of Montrose, Colorado, passed away suddenly at his home on January 23, 2023. Hoin was a regular participant in our community’s weekly online veteran’s gatherings and at our in-person veteran’s retreats for many years.

Hoin was born in Oakland, California, on January 31, 1950. He served in the US Navy Air Wing attached to the Seventh Fleet, Fifteenth Carrier Air Group, Attack Squadron 94, aboard the USS Coral Sea (1970-74). He completed two WestPac cruises to the Tonkin Gulf, Vietnam.

During his first combat deployment, while fulfilling his duties as an operations yeoman, he volunteered aboard ship as a peer-counselor for the drug rehabilitation and substance abuse team, facilitated group counseling sessions, and helped with crisis-suicide intervention/prevention.

Hoin went on to work as an artist, printmaker, graphic designer, software designer and developer in New Mexico and Colorado. He was ordained as a Buddhist monk (receiving the dharma name Hoin) in the Soto Zen tradition of Katagiri Roshi. Hoin was also the founder and executive director of the Heart of the Mountain Veteran Resource Center. Hoen’s work with veterans throughout his life was supported and enriched by his personal spiritual path in Zen Buddhism.