Dr. David R. Downs, MD, Madison and Dodgeville… age 91, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, August 21st, at his home in Oakwood Village Prairie Ridge, Madison, Wisconsin.
Dave was born on February 1st, 1933, in Madison to Leslie and Lois (Ross) Downs. After graduating from Madison West High School, he studied medicine at UW-Madison. In 1955, Dave married the love of his life, Bonnie Jean Tuttle, in Madison.
After a stint in the Navy at Camp Pendleton, Dave returned to Wisconsin and took up family practice in Dodgeville. Dave was active with the Wisconsin Woodland Owners Association, the Iowa County Scenic Sounds Barbershop Chorus, and Kiwanis Club.
Dave was a WWOA Life Member. He served on the WWOA Board of Directors from 1997-2000 and on the WWOA Publications Committee for decades. Dave and Bonnie participated in WWOA’s Sweden Trip in 1997. He was also an officer in the Bad Axe Chapter for many years.
Dave & Bonnie’s great joys included tree farming and travel. A former dairy farm in Clyde, the rechristened “Bonnie In Clyde” was converted into timber, with Dave, family, and friends eventually planting ~ 330,000 trees. They traveled extensively, enjoying ElderHostels, cruises, and visiting snowbird friends.
An avid reader, Dave always seemed to have a book in his hand; his hobbies included poetry, crosswords, interesting signs and license plates, limericks, jokes, and genealogy, and he was practically unbeatable in any word or logic game.
Dave’s celebration of life will be Saturday September 21st, with a gathering at 1:30 p.m. and service at 2:30 p.m., both at Oakwood Prairie Ridge chapel. An additional informal gathering with Downs family members will be held at Dodgeville UMC on Sunday, September 22nd, 12:00 p.m. -1:30 p.m.; Bonnie is unlikely to attend.
Memorial contributions may be made by check payable to the Oakwood Foundation, 6209 Mineral Point Rd, Suite 200, Madison, WI, 53705 or at OakwoodFoundationInc.org.
As always, Dave gets the last word:
The lessons in life that I’ve learned.
Are not just some things to be spurned.
At life’s cessation.
I choose cremation.
It’ll be the last thing that I’ve Urned.