NATCHITOCHES – A memorial service is Saturday in Metairie for Northwestern State 1953 football All-America center Dudley Downing, who was selected as one of the "Top 100 Demon Football Players of All-Time" as part of the Demons' centennial football celebration in 2007.
 
Downing, 82, passed away last Thursday at his home in Sherman, Texas. A memorial service is set for noon Saturday at First Trinity Evangelical Church, 3910 Power Blvd., Metairie, LA 70003.
 
He helped the Demons of coach Harry Turpin win the 1953 Gulf States Conference championship, earning first-team All-GSC honors, and was elected to the university's Graduate N Club Hall of Fame, Northwestern's top athletic honor for former competitors, in 1974.
 
The "Top 100" Demon football roster in 2007 was selected by a combination of fan votes and input from a blue-ribbon panel of former players, coaches, administrators and media.
 
Downing was an honors graduate of Baker High School and Northwestern, and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He pastored several Baptist churches in Louisiana and was in real estate.
 
He was actively supportive of his college alma mater, with an endowed scholarship in his name.
 
Survivors include his wife, Jean, and four children:  Robbie Averett of Maurepas, Dudley Downing Jr. of Denham Springs, Johnette Downing Billington of New Orleans, and Joanna Downing McDaniel of Cypress, Texas, along with seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.  Four sisters also survive.
 
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Dudley Downing Scholarship Fund, Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, LA 71497, or two other causes, the Meals on Wheels, 1500 North Broughton St., Sherman, TX 75090; or Grayson County Home Hospice, 505 W. Center St., Sherman, TX, 75091.