The Rev. Tyrone Downing Sr.

CAMBRIDGE - The Rev. Tyrone Downing Sr., 49, passed away on Sunday, June 3, 2007.

He was born Oct. 18, 1957, son of Marjorie White Downing and the late Hursell Downing SR.

Ty or Tyrone, as he was called, graduated from the Wicomico County School system.

He was employed by Salisbury University for 22 years. He also worked for the Wicomico County Board of Education.

He was an elder at New Life Christian Church and Ministries Inc., where he served until his death..

The Rev. Downing was an avid basketball player and fan. He also loved football. His favorite teams were the Chicago Bulls and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Rev. Downing is survived by his wife, LaShawne A. Downing; four children, Tyrone Downing Jr., Tynisha Downing, Dexter Pinkett Jr. and TyRen Pinkett; his mother, Marjorie Downing; special parents, Thomas and Helen Johnson, who raised him as their own; sisters Althea Jones (Lawrence), Diane Downing, Regina Bailey (John), Cynthia Downing and Helen Beckett; two brothers, Hursell Downing Jr. and the Rev. Weldon M. Johnson (Jacqueline); three grandchildren; mother-in-law and father-in-law, Dewey and Deborah Stanley; brother-in-law, Troy Downs; sister-in-law, Ne"cole Cornish; and a number of other relatives and friends.

Services will be held 1 p.m. Saturday at the Refuge Temple Church of God, 800 Robbins St., Cambridge, with a viewing held two hours prior to the service. Burial will follow in Bethel Cemetery in Cambridge.

A viewing will also be held from 6 to 8 tonight at the New Life Christian Church and Ministries, 923 Phillips St., Cambridge.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Bennie Smith Funeral Home.