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Surrounded by loving family, Danny Downing left this Earth to live eternally with his Lord & Savior on May 9, 2011. Born Dec 5, 1945 to Robert Merrill Downing and Vivian Graves Downing. Except for time spent serving his country from 1964-1968 in the U. S. Air Force, he lived his entire life in Longview where he met & married his true love, Linda Brown in 1969. Danny retired as Captain in 1999 after 31 years with the Longview Fire Department. He took great pride in his work & the city he loved so much. He thoroughly enjoyed the mentoring of the young firemen & brotherhood they all shared. Also, he owned & operated Danny's Outboard & Repair Service at Lake Cherokee. His days off from the Fire Department were spent taking care of his customers. In his free time, he loved to hunt, fish, cook and spend time with his friends & family. Danny lived the last 3 years of his life at Highland Pines Nursing Home where he was cared for by a loving staff, his wife & his children. The family would like to convey their deepest appreciation to everyone at Highland Pines. Preceded in death by his parents, Robert/ Vivian Downing & grandchildren Grayson & Camille. Survivors: wife Linda, daughters, Dustin (Marc) Shirley & Ashley (Jeff) Franze & grandkids Avery Alexandra Shirley, Slayton Shirley & Ian Miller Franze; mom-in-law, Lois Wilson; sisters, Lana Myers & Linda Baxley. As his family, we are sure that no man ever loved his wife & family as much as "Pops" did. We know that he will continue to watch over us all from Heaven as he did on Earth. Funeral services were May 12, 2011 Rader Funeral Home with Rev. David Farmer officiating. Burial followed at Rosewood Park. |
