A month ago, we noted the passing of Darby Bukowski-Byam and community support for her newborn son and husband. Now her Celebration of Life is set, and her family has sent that announcement along with her full remembrance:

Darby Mitchell Bukowski-Byam
October 15, 1991 – November 22, 2025

Darby Mitchell Bukowski-Byam, our beloved daughter, sister, wife, mother, and friend, passed away on Saturday, November 22, during childbirth in Seattle. She was 34 years old. Her beautiful baby boy Wyatt is stable and now at home in West Seattle with Darby’s husband Jackson.

Darby grew up in Northern California in the town of Boulder Creek with her parents Denise and Deryk, together with her sister Tiffany and brother Josh. She attended San Lorenzo Valley High School, where she excelled in athletics – tennis, golf, soccer, and softball. Darby graduated with academic honors while being President of her Senior Class. She was a candy striper for Good Samaritan Hospital, saxophone player, and surfer. Darby’s incredible warmth, openness, and empathy allowed her to make lasting friendships wherever she went.

She attended UCLA from 2009-2013. She was a Kappa Alpha Theta sister at the UCLA chapter and dedicated many non-school months to helping others. Most notable, she worked at Camp Kessum as a children’s-grief counselor for 2 summers and spent a summer in rural Tanzania, Africa, teaching English to underprivileged children.

After graduating from UCLA, Cum Laude in Business Admin and International Relations, Darby moved to Washington, D.C., to work for House Representative Sam Farr of California for the summer, along with giving tours of the Capitol Building to visiting tourists. She was subsequently hired in 2013 by The BGR Group as a lobbyist consultant and analyst, a job that allowed her to interface with many members of Congress. While in Washington, D.C., Darby earned her MBA from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.

In 2018, Darby moved to downtown Boston and was hired by M&T Bank as a Senior Change Mgr, SVP. When Covid occurred, she moved to Seattle, while still working for M&T Bank. She eventually decided to stay in Seattle where she found an incredible group of friends, a thriving community, and her future husband, Jackson Byam. Big happenings in her life in 2024 … Jackson and Darby purchased a home in West Seattle and married in August of 2024. She found an incredible job at F5, Inc., a tech firm specializing in cloud services and security. It was at F5 that Darby found a truly amazing place to work, as a Business Strategy Manager, SVP, and had a promising career ahead of her. She was an active member of the Seattle Chapter of ACMP (Association of Change Management Practitioners) and was a board member of the Seattle Community Engagement. She was happiest in a library, walking around her wonderful West Seattle neighborhood, or on a ski slope!

Darby’s announcement of her pregnancy in May of 2025 put her in a state of euphoria, knowing she was to have a child with Jackson. With the birth of her little boy Wyatt, Darby will live on. He will have much love and warmth from the many friends and family that Darby surrounded herself with, and we all will hold him tight in her absence.

A Celebration of Life will be held on January 18 in West Seattle. For more information please email: denisebski@gmail.com. In lieu of flowers, please contribute to the GoFundMe page set up for her surviving infant son, Wyatt.

(WSB publishes West Seattle obituaries and memorial announcements by request, free of charge. Please email the text, and a photo if available, to westseattleblog@gmail.com)