William Bradley Downs

THIS IS BRAD'S STORY AS TOLD BY HIS MOTHER...........Brad came into this world on July 4th 1986. He was borned at Sheppard Air Force Base Hospital in Wichita Falls, Texas.  His father was in the Air Force at the time..  Brad was such a joy to both of his parents and his sister Cindy thought he was the neatest thing..  He had the cutest expressions and brought a lot of laughter into our life.  With him being born on Independence Day his birthday was always a big event.  He thought for the first 5 years of his life that all the fireworks and celebration was for him.  When he started school, I remember him coming home crying the day he realized that the whole United States was not celebrating his birthday.....He was so disappointed..

In 1995 at the age of 8 we moved to Gulfport, Mississippi to be closer to our family.  For the next 3 years Brad attended the Gulf Coast Seventh Day Adventist Church School.  In the 6th grade he transfered to public school and attended West Wortham for 3 years.  He was in the school band for 2 of those years and played the Tuba.  He would practice for hours after school to perfect it..  I would make him sit on the picnic table in the middle of our property to practice...  For several weeks he sounded like a sick cow but soon he learned to carry a tune and then I allowed him to play inside....  

School was never Brad's passion. He repeated the 2nd grade and then the 8th grade at Bayou View Middle School, where during the 2nd semester he went through a transition program to give him credits toward graduation.  He was actively involved with the Gulfport Police Explorers... He was with them for 3 years.  He worked the parades and Independence Day Fishing Rodeos.. He attended the summer boot camps and competitions.  He attended high school at Gulfport High and joined the Jr. Rotc.  He was a member of the drill team for 2 years.  He had hopes of going in to the military until he found out that he had scoliosis and the curve in his back was to a degree that the military would not let him enlist. 

With school not being his passion he dropped out when he turned 18 and went to the adult continueous education class to get his GED.  He was one subject short.   He worked serveral jobs trying to find the one for him. Jobs included.. Checker's Hamburger, Allen Toyota, Beau Rivage, Grand Biloxi, Preformance Tires, Wal-Mart,  Bill's Quick Lube  and his last job being at Ray Brandt-GMC.  He enjoyed working around cars and was hoping to become a certified mechanic.

While in school he was friends with a young lady name Samantha Forehand.  After Hurricane Katrina- Brad and Sam started dating and fell in love... We tried to slow them down but they wanted a life together so June 22, 2007 they were united in Holy Matrimony.  I remember how happy they were that day.  All my sons dreams were coming true.  He adored Samantha and she returned his feelings.   They had such dreams and hopes for the future.  Three and a half months into their marriage a drunk driver stole their lives from them.  Brad and Sam choice to live was taken from them by the stupidity of a drunk driver.... But this is not the end of their story....... They will live on through us and we will fight for justice and striciter drunk driver laws in their name for the rest of our lives.... We will talk about them every chance we get...Their names are music to our ears...We will tell their story in hopes of saving someone elses life.  At their wedding they took vows to stand by each other until "Death do Us Part".... Death did not part them..... They are together forever......  Brad, Sam we miss ya'll with everything we are...... 

  We will not let you be forgotten. NEVER.