Don Townsend

Don Henry Townsend, 84 of Hunt, left this life on Sunday, December 24, 2017. Don was born in West Helena, AR, February 10, 1933, to Roland and Bess McDonald Townsend. Don lived in various cities around Arkansas where his mother was a teacher and elementary school principal. Having been named Roland when he was born, Don chose to have his name legally changed to Don Henry, his choice, when he was 7.\r\n \r\nDon graduated from Arkadelphia HS in 1949, at the age of 16. He attended Henderson Jr. College for 1 year before joining the US Air Force in May of 1950. He became very fond of the Japanese people while spending most of his 4-year term there. Following his separation from the Air Force he attended Georgia Tech for 1 year, then transferred to North Texas State University (now UNT), living with his mother who taught at the university while he attended school and worked at Convair/General Dynamics in Ft. Worth. He graduated with his Masters in Science with a major in physics and math from NTSU in 1962.\r\n \r\nHe met Connie Frederick during his last year at NTSU, and when he finally decided which NASA center for whom to work, he and Connie were married in June, 1962. They moved to Huntsville, AL where he worked for Marshall Space Flight Center. In 1968, a small group of vital young engineers were moved from MSFC to Johnson Space Center in Houston to work on the Apollo missions. He became a Booster Systems Engineer and worked on the launch console on all the Apollo missions in that capacity. Following Apollo, he worked on Skylab and Space Station, deciding to retire from NASA in 1988, but continuing to work in exactly the same capacity for Lockheed and various other contractors before finally retiring completely in 1994.\r\n \r\nDon was always an avid hunter, but after having purchased a beach house and property on Bolivar Peninsula, also became an avid shrimper. He had a 23-ft. aluminum-magnesium shrimp boat built in 1983 and caught thousands of pounds of delicious shrimp before Hurricane Ike took the house, boats and boathouse away in 2008.\r\n \r\nFrom the time Don went to work at JSC until 1996, Deer Park, TX was where he and Connie lived and raised their family Tracy and Ted. In 1996 he and Connie moved to Hunt, TX where they found a new home and loving community. Don became active in the Hunt UMC and also served as president of the Japonica Hills homeowners for several years. For a few years he also tutored at the 3-H Pathways Ranch as an outreach of Hunt UMC. In 2009 and 2010 some health issues began to inhibit his love of hunting and other outdoor activities. As the years progressed, so did his Lewy Body dementia. After developing pneumonia in Sept. 2017, the dementia finally took its toll on his physical body as well in 2017. \r\n \r\nDon was preceded in death by his mother, Bess M. Townsend, sister, Alice Ann Townsend, and niece Phoenix Rousseau. He is survived by his devoted wife of 55 years, Connie; daughter Tracy Folk and grandchildren Jacob and Jessie Folk of Deer Park, TX; son Dr. Ted Townsend (Beth) and granddaughters Mica and Morgan of San Diego CA. Also surviving are nephew Robert Anderson (Sissy Camacho) of Austin, TX and niece Laurie (Cliff) Hemming and children Cody and Cassie of Crossroads, TX.\r\n \r\nA celebration of life service for Don will be held at Hunt United Methodist Church at 11 A.M., Saturday, January 6, 2018. Memorial donations may be made to Hunt United Methodist, the Special Music Fund at HUMC, or any charity of your choice. A special thank-you to the personnel at River Point Memory Care Center for their love and dedication these past few months. \r\n