DARLENE LARSON MEMORIAL,

FABYAN JAPANESE GARDEN

Darlene Larson became a Geneva Garden Club member in 1965.  In 1972, she was hosting a Japanese exchange student.  She took the student to see the Japanese Garden on the Fabyan Estate in Geneva.  What she found shocked her!  The Fabyan Estate, with its land along the Fox River, had been sold to the Kane County Forest Preserve upon Nelle Fabyan’s death in 1939.  It appeared that the Forest Preserve had only cared for the land by mowing and putting out garbage receptacles.  Darlene made a proposal to the Geneva Garden Club to clean up the Japanese Garden.  She knew that it was going to be a HUGE undertaking, but one that she had to try with the help of her Garden Club friends.  They worked on the Japanese Garden tirelessly.  They found remnants of its past glory under years of dirt and debris.  One of her proudest moments came in 1975, when U. S. Congressman Tim Hall visited the Japanese Garden, and asked for the Geneva Garden Club to be put into the U. S. Congressional record for their work on restoring the Japanese Garden.  Her work didn’t end there, though.  She worked until the end of her life, in 2018, raising funds and awareness, to maintain the Japanese Garden and the Fabyan Estate.  She felt that the Fabyan Estate was a jewel that Geneva was lucky to have, as well as an important part of its history. 

Darlene Larson was also a jewel that Geneva Garden Club was lucky to have.  Please join us, and the Friends of fabyan, in celebrating the life of this extraordinary woman on June 5, 2022 at 1 PM at the Japanese Tea House. The Tea House features an authentic ceremonial tea table that the Geneva Garden Club and Friends of Fabyan commissioned in Darlene’s honor, along with one of her beloved kimonos. At this ceremony, a plaque will be presented and the Tea Table will be dedicated in Darlene’s memory. The Geneva Garden Club is proud to carry on Darlene’s legacy, helping to maintain the beauty and serenity of this jewel, the Fabyan Japanese Garden.