Matthew "Matt" James Darby

Matthew “Matt” James Darby, 54, passed away on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.  Celebration of life services will be 2:00 PM Monday July 14,  2025 at the Amarillo Botanical Gardens, 1400 Streit Drive. A reception to greet the family will follow. Arrangements are under the direction of Cox-Rowley Funeral Home.

Matt was born August 20, 1970, in Newport Beach, California to James “Jim” and Nancy (Shappell) Darby.  He moved to Amarillo at the precocious age of 3 ½ and grew up here in Amarillo, attending Puckett Elementary, Bonham Jr. High and Amarillo High School.  Matt went on to the University of North Texas, where he received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Radio, Television and Film.  Matt came back to Amarillo in 1996 to start his well-known career in broadcasting.  Matt’s “golden pipes” were recognized everywhere he went.  Matt worked as the News Director for KGNC-FM and went on to serve as the News Director for Cumulus Media in 2001, where he also was the Program Director for the 2 AM radio stations there.  He was best known for his Afternoon Sports Page, a 2-hour afternoon sports talk show, where he showcased his knowledge of sports and his extraordinary wit, while interacting with local calls from avid sports enthusiasts.  Matt left his broadcasting career in 2006 and joined AQHA as the Manager of Race Marketing.  It was there that Matt discovered the “problem” with racing silks for horse racing jockeys.  And so he researched, engineered and in 2012, opened his company, Darby Racing Technology, LLC, where he then developed and successfully created his Triple Crown winning product, Speed Silks™.

On January 21, 2002, Matt married Darci (Gouge) in one of their favorite “happy” places, Walt Disney World, in Orlando, Florida.  They met 3 ½ years earlier through a mutual friend, Mary Lyn Halley, and the rest was history.  Together they traveled abroad, enjoying cruises, Disney vacations, Caribbean beach stays, and most of all, making memories together.  Matt loved hosting parties for friends and family to come watch the Triple Crown races and was happy to admit that he wasn’t the best at picking the winners, but pretty great at pointing out those who were wearing his SpeedSilks™, looking sharp crossing the finish line!

Matt was a former member of Amarillo Rotary, and an active member of Amarillo Executive Association, where he served as past Secretary and Committee member of the annual Game Dinner.  Matt loved an open microphone and he enjoyed serving as emcee to a multitude of events, as well as acting as the in-arena announcer for the local sports teams, the Amarillo Rattlers, Amarillo Gorillas and Amarillo Dusters.

Matt enjoyed traveling, golfing, collecting anything Star Wars related, and spending time with family and a multitude of friends.  His incredible knowledge, which he would refer to as trivial, useless information, was so expansive that you would find yourself saying “Really?”, because it seemed impossible for anyone to actually know such random, particular factoids.  Matt was the life of the party, the first to help others, and always there to lift up all around him with a clever quip or hilarious joke or story—to put it simply, Matt was LOVED BY ALL.

Matt was preceded in death by his father, James Darby; his dad, Gary Gerard; and his grandparents, Nelson and Helen Shappell and Edith and Desmond Gerard.

Survivors include his wife, Darci; his mother and stepfather, Nancy and Carl Altschwager; his “I won the in-law lottery” in-laws, Jimmy and Jo Gouge of Amarillo, a sister, Noma (Jason) Burr of Amarillo; a sister, Jennifer (Steve) Walsh of St. Louis, Missouri; his sister-in-law, Denise (Jeff) Gulde of Amarillo; a step sister, Jo Lyn Green of Tennessee; a step brother, Brian (Carry) Gerard of Kentucky; numerous nieces and nephews, great nieces, great nephews and many “surrogate” family members who he adored.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, Sister-Bear Foundation, or a charity of your preference.