Two Andrews men who died in a bus-pickup crash Friday afternoon near Big Spring are being remembered as well respected and selfless.
Darin K. Johns, 53, was the Andrews High School band director, and Marc Elbert Boswell, 69, was a high school math teacher and the director of data information systems for Andrews ISD, his obituary detailed.
The accident occurred at 4:02 p.m. Friday on Interstate 20, two miles east of Big Spring. Johns’ wife, Karen, was also injured in the wreck.
Permian High School Director of Bands Jeff Whitaker, Executive Director of Fine Arts for Abilene ISD Jay Lester and John Carroll, an associate director of bands at PHS and current president of the Texas Music Educators Association, said Johns was in his profession for all the right reasons, was helpful, but competitive and kind.
Whitaker, who had known Johns since Whitaker was in college, said students didn’t have to be in Johns’ program to get his help.
“It’s a competitive environment that we get in sometimes as band directors, but he was in it for the profession; for all the kids. It didn’t matter what band program they were in. He also was willing to go and help other band directors and he would help them (and) guide them … ,” Whitaker said.
He added that Johns wanted to help other directors improve. Whitaker said Johns would also help younger people who wanted to be teachers and directors with guidance and advice.
“… He could be blunt and direct, but in a way where he meant what was best for us,” Whitaker said.
Whitaker said he first met Johns at Angelo State through the band camp.
“… Then one of my close friends, actually her first job was working with him in Colorado City. She knew him well back then and I got to know him through her … He invited me to judge my first contest, so the first time I ever got to be a judge for band contest was because Darin Johns asked me to go out there. I was a young kid. I thought, ‘Oh wow, here he is giving me an opportunity to help out and to grow.’”
He noted that band directors are always available to help out.
“We may be competitors on certain weekends, but the rest of the time I think it’s really neat that we go out and help each other,” Whitaker said.
Whitaker said he found out about the crash when he was looking up a news story online.
“… It was before we knew what had happened and it was just a gut punch. It was hard to comprehend and you can tell by the photos that it was just devastating. Your thoughts go out to the kids; drivers. No one knew at the time what had happened, and as the night went on, we knew before it was even reported in the news officially. We had known just by talking through friends and colleagues. I grew up in Andrews and my mom still lives there, so she was hearing things very quickly. I was hearing from her. It was just hard to experience just how gut wrenching. You want to help, but you feel helpless. You feel like you don’t know what direction to go, or what to say or do,” Whitaker said.
He added that he was thinking about his own band students and the program at PHS.
“… We were scheduled the next day to go down the same road. As I got on that bus and sat in that front seat, it was pretty surreal. I thank God that as we passed by, they had that area cleared up. We were all kind of a nervous wreck as teachers going down that path the next day just thinking about it. I texted several of my band colleagues that I knew were traveling Saturday and just said, ‘Hey, I know we’re all feeling this heavy on our hearts and (I) just wish you all safe travels.’”
He added that music brings people together anytime there is devastation to families and communities.
Whitaker said he was in the Andrews program and that’s where he decided to become a band director.
“I think about those young people that are there that are going to have to pick up the pieces and move forward … I’ve talked to a lot of colleagues and we’re all ready to go in and help and do whatever it takes … My kids, too. … We had a talk with our kids before we got on our buses. I thought it was important and they all sat there and we had a talk about what it was and what band family is. We may not be able to help today, but we will find a way to help. There are band families and band students and band moms and dads, and certainly band directors, all across Texas that are willing and ready to do anything to help these guys,” Whitaker said.
He added that Johns was a good leader as he was elected by his peers as head of the Association of Texas Small School Bands.
“… We knew his heart and his spirit were in the right place and he would be selfless in that position and so for over a decade he led the … (ATSSB) in Region 6 which is the largest region in Texas geographically. He did a tremendous job … He was willing to step up. It’s a lot of extra work that’s unpaid. It’s a volunteer position and it takes a lot of organization and a lot of time, which he was great at. But more importantly, we knew he would do it for the best interests of every young band student in the region which is why he was chosen for that position,” Whitaker said.
Jay Lester, executive director of fine arts for Abilene ISD and executive secretary for UIL Music Region 6, said Johns taught in Abilene, Colorado City and was in his seventh year in Andrews.
Lester had known Johns for 30 years.
“Darin was a student at ACU and I was a student at Hardin-Simmons. We played in some student ensembles together that were a joint operation, and later when he taught at Franklin Middle School here in Abilene, I actually got to do part of my student teaching and observations with him,” Lester said.
When he heard about the bus accident, Lester said he felt shock at first, then sadness, trying to make sense of it all, followed by lots of reflection.
His character and integrity were what made Johns stand out as a band director, Lester said.
“… He was the ultimate human being and a fine Christian man who exhibited those qualities in everything he did. Secondly, I would say he was by far one of the most organized people I know. Our friendship has many aspects over the years. Darin and I continued to play in a brass quintet for about 25 years and he just recently had to step down from playing tuba because of his bouts with cancer and I know he missed it greatly,” Lester said.
“… The other thing I really appreciated about Darin is that he is competitive in nature, but not in a way that inhibits him from being close friends with his fellow band directors,” Lester added.
He said band directors learn from each other and that Johns was a lifelong learner.
“He never stopped trying to pursue excellence. I think that shows in everything that he did because his bands were always sweepstakes winners and (made) frequent trips to the state marching contest. But he was very humble about it. He never boasted,” Lester said.
Lester said he thought Johns had recently gotten a clean bill of health for his cancer from MD Anderson.
Carroll, associate band director and current president TMEA, said that what stood out to him about Johns is that he was “very impassioned about his students and teaching the music.”
“He was very kind person, not weak, but (a) kind person. His kids just absolutely loved him and he would do anything for them,” Carroll said.
Johns was the ATSSB representative.
“That’s a group that’s made up of single A, double A, 3A and 4A high school bands and he was our leader for that for this part of Texas for many, many years,” Carroll said.
He added that Johns just gave the position up a few months ago.
“I don’t know anybody who did not like Darin Johns,” Carroll said.
Michael Boswell, Marc Boswell’s son, said his father retired in 2017 and had been a longtime math teacher. But computers were his passion.
“He was just genuine with everybody,” his son Jeremy said. “Everybody thought of him as a friend and someone they could talk to and someone that genuinely cared about them. …”
Michael said Boswell had a servant attitude. He was also an elder at the Andrews Church of Christ for about 30 years.
“If you needed something, there’s people around town that he would just show up and help them with whatever they needed, whether it be a lawn mowed or whether it be a ride to the store and back,” Michael said. “He would just sit there and listen to you talk and be a friend, a confidant to where it didn’t go any further. But he was always serving … We got countless texts talking about how he just listened and he was such a great listener and that he just really helped them through a difficult time. That really meant a lot because he served everybody. … You could bend his ear a lot and he would just sit there and listen and let you vent …,” Michael said.
Carol and Marc Boswell have two sons, Michael and Jeremy and a daughter, Stephanie. They have four grandchildren.
Jeremy lives in San Antonio; Michael lives in Odessa; and Stephanie lives in Andrews.
Michael was at the Permian black and white scrimmage Friday night when his mother called him about the wreck.
“… At first I ignored her phone call. I thought it was just the rudimentary stuff because usually that’s when we talk on my way home from work. It was a shock,” Michael said.
Marc Boswell had been driving buses since 2017, Michael said. He had gotten a CDL back when he worked at Lohn, Texas, in 1974, ‘75 and ‘76.
“He’d pick the kids up. He’d teach them at Lohn and then he’d drive them home so he had a bus license way back … But then of course we go to Seagraves and we go to Andrews and you make enough to where you don’t have to take all those oddball jobs. He kind of got back into it. He took the swim team to multiple events when his grandkids were in swimming. Then he still does a little bit of that. Of course, he takes the band and the reason why he was driving the band bus and not the football bus was because the band leaves right after the game,” Michael said.
“Dad was going to keep the stats for the football team, and after he kept the stats, he would drive the band back and then he would work on stats so when the football team got home he would be closer to being done with the stats so the coaches could be ready to give the stats to the different football players for the next week,” Michael said.
Marc Boswell had been keeping statistics for the football team since 1982 or ‘83. Michael was a ball boy because his dad kept stats, so he got to travel with the team.
Marc Boswell’s first teaching job was in Lohn, right outside of Brady.
“That’s where he was born. That’s where me and Jeremy were born because Lohn doesn’t have a hospital. He worked there for two years then Seagraves for three or four. …,” Michael said.
“There are a lot of people that know dad. It kind of helped sometimes when we were growing up; sometimes it wasn’t so good,” he recalled.
If he got caught doing something he shouldn’t, his dad would find out.
One of Marc Boswell’s best friends, Terry Duzan, was the driver of the second bus and was the first one to get to Marc Boswell.
“… He tried to wake him. Terry was a godsend to that point and he still is. … He’s been helping the family. He’s a great guy,” Michael said. He added that Duzan is a church elder, as well.
“And he wasn’t even supposed to be there. He was off. He wasn’t going to do it. They called him at 1:20 p.m. … The person that was supposed to drive the second bus got sick. That was why Terry was even in the area Terry wouldn’t have been there had he not actually got called in,” Michael said.
A preliminary investigation showed a 2016 Ford F-350 truck was traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 20 for unknown reasons. A 2005 Motor Coach Industries bus and a 2018 Freightliner bus were traveling eastbound in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 20. The report issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety says the F-350 struck the 2005 Motor Coach Industries bus in the outside lane. The 2018 Freightliner bus also struck the Ford.
The Ford caught fire upon impact. The report said the 2018 Freightliner sustained minor damage.
The driver of the Ford truck, Nathan Paul Haile, 59, of Midland, was killed. The report stated he was not wearing a seatbelt and was pronounced dead by Justice of the Peace Kelly Seales.
Additional passengers included 25 Andrews High School students. Two students were airlifted to University Medical Center in Lubbock with incapacitating injuries, the report stated.
Eleven students were transported to Scenic Mountain Medical Center with non-incapacitating injuries and the remaining 12 students were not injured, the report stated.
Service information for Johns has not yet been released.
A Celebration of Life for Boswell will take place on at 2:30 p.m. Friday at Andrews Church of Christ, 201 NW 2nd St., in Andrews.
