Darrell Wayne Loud Sr.: The ‘Sixth Temptation’

Editor’s Note: This is guest column provided by George Livingston Jr., a celebrity photographer and documentarian of history, culture and music in Richmond.

I met Darrell Wayne Loud Sr. about five years ago, when we attended a couple of Temptation & Stone Soul picnic shows.

After that, we would talk on the phone about the joy of entertainment, life and, of course, the Temptations. Darrell would travel to watch the Temptations, his all-time favorite group, and one of the most successful groups to ever emerge from Motown Records.

I thought of Darrell as the “Sixth Temptation.”

Darrell’s health was failing the last time I saw him. It about month ago. He laid in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Modesto. Then last week his lovely wife Kim informed me that Darrell had ascended to heaven on March 4. He was 58.

My next time with Darrell was at his funeral services at North Richmond Missionary Baptist Church on March 13. Darrell was born in Louisiana, and lived in Modesto since 2001, but much of his life was spent in Oakland and Richmond and other East Bay Area cities.

The services were a heartfelt reflection of Darrell’s love for his family and friends and his lifelong interest in entertainment. Many people spoke of Darrell’s love of his two children, his sense of humor and his sharp fashion sense. Rev. Dana Keith Mitchell delivered a moving eulogy. In life, Darrell gathered and shared many memories and photographs of the Temptations over the years, as have I, as a celebrity photographer.

As an entertainment fan and photographer I have seen and known many of the great performers of our time, often during their visits to Richmond. Darrell and I shared those passions. Darrell will be missed. Darrell was indeed a “Sixth Temptation.”