Darren Scott Malone

Darren Scott Malone, 50, of Farmington, NM passed away Sunday, March 21, 2021 in Albuquerque, NM after bravely fighting a battle with a rare liver disorder.

Darren was born December 8, 1970 in Norman, OK to Nathan & Kay (Darnell) Malone.

He attended Broken Arrow High School in Broken Arrow, OK, graduating in 1989. He later continued his education at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, MO where he received his Bachelors Degree in Sociology and Criminal Justice in 2001. While living in Springfield, MO he worked as a Park Ranger. In his spare time he helped develop and implement a youth wrestling program and was a Big Brother in the Big Brothers & Big Sisters program.

An Army veteran, Darren was part of the “Original 88” Investigators who started with SCIS/Paragon in March 2017. He worked previously with several vendors prior to joining SCIS/Paragon and served in a variety of roles, including District Manager and Team Leader. However, he most enjoyed being an Investigator, a role he embraced because of his ability to interact with the community working cases for Customs & Border Protection, ICE, TSA and USCIS. As a member of the Western Region and a valued contributor to SCIS and Paragon Investigations, Darren was resolute about overcoming his health concerns and completed casework through last Thursday, a further testament to his resilience and fight – and no surprise to anyone who knew and worked with him. As a Senior Investigator, Darren shared his wealth of experience and expertise with his teammates and those he trained. He was relentless about contributing to the overall success of the program, enthusiastically supporting the DCSA, CBP, TSA, USCIS, and ICE contracts as their program continued to grow. Darren tirelessly mentored the next generation of Investigators by sharing best practices acquired over a distinguished career that spanned almost 20 years. He will be greatly missed for years to come, not only by his extended SCIS/Paragon family, but by his many industry friends and colleagues.

Darren’s level of commitment to his work extended to his personal life as well. He enjoyed OU football, watching movies, traveling, music, and entertaining his numerous nieces and nephews as they were growing up whether it was catching fireflies in a jar playing video games, train rides to the mountains or him loading the car up with all the kids to go to the movies. He was also well known for arguing and would readily admit that he would argue with a fence post! Most of all he enjoyed spending as much time as he could with his beautiful daughter, Breanna. She was and will always be his princess. All who knew him instantly learned that his daughter was the light of his life. He never stopped talking about the pride he took in being Breanna’s father. He was an amazing daddy, letting her paint his nails, and fix his hair. They enjoyed countless tea parties, Breanna’s first dance. Together, they made an annual tradition of riding the Polar Express and dressing up as Santa and helper to visit nursing homes, the home bound or at the request of small businesses, go play Santa for the day.

Darren was proud of his journey on this earth. Even at the junctures when he doubted his way...he continued to depend on God’s guidance and he trusted God’s purpose for his life. Darren is at peace.

He is survived by his beautiful 9 year old daughter, Breanna, his loving parents Nathan & Kay Malone all of Farmington, his sister and brother and their spouses, Nathenia & Bobby Roberts of Aztec, NM and Stacy & Judy Malone of Crowell, TX. Numerous nieces and nephews who each have fond memories of the good times spent with their Uncle Darren.

He was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Rev. Nathan F. and Doris (Crist) Malone and his maternal grandparents, Newton and Ola Mae (Botts) Darnell.

Pallbearers will be Clayton Malone, Bobby, Ryan and Riley Roberts, Josh Coffman, David Cupps, and Justin Jones.

Honorary pallbearers are Kevin Dorman, Phil Martinez, Greg Cresswell, Lyn Tarr, Allen Hanlon, Ryan, Reese and Jeffery Caddell, Ron Hunt, Joe Maestes, Jordan Rhead, Charlie Ricord, and the Desert Heights Church Security Team.

A Celebration of Life will be held Sunday, March 28, 2021 at Desert Heights Church in Farmington, NM at 1:30 PM.

Arrangements provided by Brewer Lee & Larkin Funeral Home of Farmington, NM.