THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 5, 1997 TAG: 9701050044
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 35 lines
Doris Barth Christensen Downing, 69, of the 1000 block of Fairway Drive passed away Friday, Jan. 3, 1997, in the home of her daughter, Karla Barth Downing Gyure after a long and courageous battle with emphysema.
The widow of Richard Sterlyn Downing, Mrs. Downing was a native of Norfolk County and had formerly lived in the 5300 block of Fairfield Blvd., Virginia Beach.
She was a Methodist and a former member of McKendree United Methodist Church, Norfolk. She was a graduate of Maury High School and a member of the first graduating class of Certified Dental Assistants from the Norfolk extension of the College of William and Mary, now ODU. Following her graduation, Mrs. Downing worked for the late Marshall O. Dailey, D.D.S., until becoming a devoted full-time mother. She was also a past local president of Theta Kappa Sigma.
Survivors include two daughters and their husbands, Karla Barth Downing Gyure and Lt. Cmdr. Kenneth A. Gyure of Chesapeake and Karen A. Cotton and Joell B. Cotton of Virginia Beach; sister, Vivian C. Dailey of Norfolk and a beloved infant granddaughter, Connor Kaline Cotton. Mrs. Downing is also survived by many other relatives and friends including three nieces, Brenda Esch, Signe Pecsek and Marsha Bolding. She was preceded in death by her parents, Caspar ``Duke'' Barth Christensen and Doris Angell Christensen.
A funeral will be conducted at 10:30 a.m. Monday in Smith and Williams Funeral Home, Kempsville Chapel, Virginia Beach, by the Rev. Thomas Mercer. Burial will follow in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Norfolk. The family will receive friends at the funeral home today from 3 to 4 p.m. and at other times will be at the home of her daughter, Karla, where friends are invited to fellowship with the family following the service Monday. Memorial donations may be made to the American Lung Association.
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY