David Fred Durham, 87, passed away on Tuesday, October 13th, 2020. He was
born in Limestone County, Alabama on September 16th, 1933; the son of Alvie W. and Ada V. (Draper) Durham. Graveside Service will be 3pm Friday at Hester’s Cemetery. Visitation is Friday from 12:30pm until 2:30pm, October 16, 2020 at Spry Funeral Home in Athens.
David (‘Shorty’ to his family) was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force where he was
trained in Air Traffic Control. In 1953 he married Betty Carolyn Hillis who
remained his wife for 67 years. Upon leaving the military he began his career as an Air Traffic Controller which took he and Carolyn from Alaska, where their
daughter, Sherry Ailene, was born, to Alabama, where their oldest son, David Fred, Jr., was born, to Georgia, where their youngest son, Jeffrey Scott, was born. David or ‘Deputy Dog’ to his co-workers, worked for the Federal Aviation Administration, mostly at the Atlanta Airport, for 30 years before he and Carolyn moved back to Tennessee to build their dream home on Hulsey’s Branch in Minor Hill. He farmed: until he was almost 80, when he and Carolyn relocated to Athens, Alabama.
He is survived by his wife, Betty Carolyn, his sons, David and Jeffrey, his
grandsons, Andrew and Jacob, his sister, Bonnie Barnett, and his brothers, Franklin ‘Bud’ Durham, and Richard (Bookie) Durham. –
