David Downing

Dr. David M. Downing, of Hoover, went to be with the Lord, and with his beloved wife Joyce. We find great comfort knowing that he is no longer suffering and is in Heaven. Born June 4, 1939 in Louisville, Kentucky, he was the son of the late Rex Downing and June Downing. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife Joyce Spears Downing. He is survived by his children Danny (Linda) Downing, Todd (Rhonda) Downing, and Tammy Downing Moore; grandchildren Carole Ann Downing, Merry Emily Downing, Hannah Kate Downing, Luke Downing, Grace Moore; and sister Diane (Bruce) Traughber. Dr. David Downing served in ministry for 35 years. After beginning a career in teaching and coaching in Louisville, KY, David felt called into ministry and moved to Atlanta, GA to serve as Minister of Youth and Recreation at West End Baptist Church. In 1969, he accepted a position at First Baptist Church, Kingsport, TN and then in 1973 moved back to Atlanta to serve at Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church. Sensing a calling to equip others to lead Christian Recreation Ministry in local churches, David began teaching Church Recreation in 1982 at Samford University in Birmingham, AL where he faithfully taught until retiring in May 2000. David has always had a love for sports, games, the outdoors, and sharing this love with others. In school, he was active in baseball, basketball and had been known to play hooky to get in a round of golf while in high school. Yes, he did get caught but deep down it was worth it to him. He loved games and we played games as a family and he and Mom played a lot of Cribbage together through the years. After a weekend of Mighty Mites basketball or men’s softball or camps or JOY senior adult trips or whatever he was doing, the thoughts or comments at home were not about who beat who but about how the teams were improving, how players were learning and growing, and how much better someone was doing at helping teammates. His love of the outdoors ranged from Camp SPDL and children’s Day Camp to backpacking in the Rockies and parts of Appalachian trail to deep sea fishing. For years, the family traipsed around the country camping together. Camping as a family was as much about the quality of time together as it was about sharing and enjoying the outdoors. We can still picture him reading stories to us around the campfire and taking us on a “lion hunt.” With golf, David had his favorite courses in Atlanta and relished his time in the fairway and sometimes in the trees. His love of golf transcended his health issues after his stroke. He switched to putting south paw and even though he couldn’t see the ball after he hit it off the tee, the usual answer to “that felt good, where did it go?” was almost always “right down the middle”. The family will receive friends, Monday, July 25, 2022, from 12:30-2:00 pm at Currie-Jefferson Funeral Home, Highway 150 in Hoover. Funeral will be at 2:00 pm on Monday, July 25, 2022 in the chapel.

In Lieu of flowers, please donate to the Michael J. Fox Foundation at

https://tribute.michaeljfox.org/tribute-page.php?id=2393&np=true