Earl Clinton Downey passed away on March 6, 2016, following a courageous battle with cancer. He was born in Sperry, Oklahoma on November 13, 1924. He was the youngest son of William Carroll Downey and Katie Laura Collins.

Funeral services with military honors will be held at 4:00 PM on Thursday, March 10, 2016 at Welch Funeral Home, 4619 Judson Road, Longview, Texas. Interment will be 10:00 AM, Saturday, March 12, 2016 in the Camp Ground Cemetery in Lafayette County, MS with Seven Oaks Funeral Home of Water Valley in charge of services.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Madeleine Lou Smith; his second wife, June Lucille Petmecky; son Earl Clinton Downey, Jr.; brothers Carol Jackson Downey, Hulan Leslie Downey, Doyle Franklin Wade Downey, sister Arlena Dow, and son-in-law Jasper Mancuso.

He is survived by 6 children: Chaille Anne Walsh of Durham, NC (husband Richard), Lana Lee Crawford of Orange Beach, AL (husband Richard), Mary Gail Waguespack of Austin, Tx (husband George), Donna Lynn Mancuso of Baytown, Tx, John Adair Downey of Water Valley, Ms (wife Donna), and Rocky Randolph of College Station, Tx (husband Glenn); his youngest sister Wanda Galyon Homewood of San Antonio, 18 grandchildren, and 20 great grandchildren.

After Pearl Harbor was attacked, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps when he was 17 1/2 and began flight training school. At the age of 19, he became a First Lieutenant and pilot of a B 24 bomber, was given a crew of 10, and was assigned to the 484th Bomb Group. He was based out of Cerignola, Italy and conducted missions primarily over Austria and Germany. He successfully completed 26 missions in WW II and was the first plane to return from the Mediterranean Theater. He received the Middle Eastern Theaters of Operations Ribbon, 5 Bronze stars, an Air Medal, and one Oak Leaf Cluster. He was also offered an appointment to West Point, but decided to attend Rice University.

When he and his brothers returned from the war, they started Downey Brothers, a residential building company in Houston, Texas, and he became the Executive Vice President. After many years in residential building, he started his own commercial building company and built churches, schools, multi-story office buildings, fast food restaurants, and retail stores, many of which can still be seen in the Longview area, throughout Texas, and many surrounding states.

During his career, he also was very active in the Houston community. He became President of the Muscular Dystrophy Organization there and helped to raise money to support it. He sponsored fund raisers and also brought in celebrities like John Wayne and Roy Rogers and Dale Evans to help him in this endeavor. He was also approached to be a mayoral candidate in Houston should the then Mayor Holcomb not run for another term.

After retiring in his seventies, he continued to pursue his other passion - being a volleyball referee for high school, college and club volleyball. He traveled with fellow referees all over Texas and the southeast, sometimes refereeing as many as 10 matches a day. He trained many other referees in the southeast and became their mentor. He was known to be a loving, caring, fun individual who encouraged the young players and their coaches to excel and love the sport as much as he did. For many years, he also set up the game schedules for referees and found substitutes when some were unable to attend games. He officiated in the sport of volleyball for 50 years and only retired when he became ill at the age of 90.

He had many other interests including music and a variety of sports. In high school, he played the clarinet and saxophone and played in a band called Tex Oldham and his Modern Music Makers. He hunted, fished, played golf, baseball, and competitive tennis. He was our hero, an inspiration to all of us. He loved life, people, and was a hard worker who was not afraid to tackle difficult tasks. He was intelligent and curious. His warmth and smile attracted people to him and he enjoyed bringing people together. His life will not be forgotten.

In lieu of flowers, memorial may be made to M. D. Anderson Center, Houston, TX at www.mdanderson.org/how-you-can-help