William Lee Downey

NASHVILLE — William “Bill” Downey was born on May 13, 1938, in Springfield, Tennessee, to Grady Lee and Emma Nola Wilburn Downey. Bill passed from this world to eternal life on July 30, 2024. He was a graduate of Springfield High School and Vanderbilt University, receiving a B.A. degree in 1960 and an M.D. degree in 1963. He continued his training at Vanderbilt and served a one-year surgical internship, followed by a residency in general surgery, and an additional three-year residency in Otolaryngology.

From 1968 until 1970, Bill was a Major in the U.S. Air Force, serving as Chief of Otolaryngology at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas. In 1970, he began private practice with Otolaryngology Associates of Tennessee, founded by Dr. William Kennon, Dr. Tom Bryan, and Dr. Jerrall P. Crook, Sr. He retired from private practice in December of 2003. The following September, he became employed by the Social Security Disability Determination Section and retired from that position in 2012. He was on the clinical faculty of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and served as acting chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology in 1971 and 1972. He was on the medical staff at both Baptist (St. Thomas Midtown) and Centennial Hospitals.

Bill was an Eagle Scout and a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity and several professional societies and organizations, including the Nashville Academy of Medicine, the Tennessee Medical Association, the American Board of Otolaryngology, the American Academy of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, the American College of Surgeons, and the American Society of Head and Neck Surgeons.

Bill is survived by Danya Kendall Downey, the love of his life, whom he married on July 15, 1960, as well as his sons, William Kendall (Beth) Downey, Frank Atkeison (Lyn) Downey, John Weatherford (Sarah Beth) Downey, and Paul Northington (Liza) Downey.

“Bubba” to his grandchildren, he especially loved being a grandfather to William Leonard Downey (Morgan), Kendall Kuhn Downey Cox (Burrus), and Elizabeth Kate Downey; Emma Atkeison Downey and Martha McIntosh Downey; Annie Archer Downey, George Turner Downey, and Mary Sims Downey; Daniel Lawrence Downey, Elizabeth Pauline Downey, John Watkins Downey, Henry Joseph Downey, and Rosemary Frances Downey; as well as a great-grandson, George Kendall Cox. He is also survived by his sister Susan Downey Foster (Charles) of Kingsport, Tennessee.

Bill had a wide-ranging intellectual curiosity, a strong work ethic, and a busy and full life. Though he enjoyed solitude, he took great pleasure in being with friends, his family, and, most of all, his wife Danya and his beloved chihuahua, Virginia. A convert to Catholicism, he had a profound love for the Catholic Church and Her teachings.

His family would like to thank special friends and associates Dr. Jerrall P. Crook, Sr., Dr. Jerrall P. Crook, Jr., Dr. Ron Overfield, Dr. Nelson Shankle, Owen Waldrop, and Don E. Williams. The family would also like to thank the caring staff of Belmont Village Assisted Living, especially Kelly Logan, LPN.

A Funeral Mass will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 8 at Christ the King Catholic Church. Prior to Mass, a visitation will be held at 12:00 p.m. in the sanctuary. A private graveside service at Mt. Olivet Cemetery will follow the Mass.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Bill’s memory to Christ the King Catholic Church, 3105 Belmont Blvd., 37212; Alive Hospice, 1710 Patterson St., 37203; or the Nashville Humane Society, 213 Oceola Ave., 37209.