David Garner was one of a kind’

David Lewis Garner was the type of person who could put a smile on any frowning face, according to his wife, Dorothy Garner.
“He was always so cheerful and witty and had a great sense of humor,” she said. “He could make you laugh when you wanted to cry.”
David died April 4. He was 75. He is buried in WTN Veterans Cemetery.
David was born Dec. 9, 1929, in Memphis, Tenn., where he married Dorothy 20 years later on July 19, 1949, at Bellevue Baptist Church.
Dorothy said she met David just before her 16th birthday in 1947 at a bus stop in Memphis.
“I remember meeting him like it was yesterday,” she said. “It was on a Friday night when my sister and I and one of my good friends went to a movie at the then Capitol Theater on McLemore Road.
“I remember these two boys, one of them which was David, followed us into the movies and sat behind us and heckled us during the entire movie. After the movie, the boys followed us to the bus stop and we all talked with each other until the bus arrived.
“I ended up giving David my phone number that night, and he called me the very next day, the same day my family was having a picnic. While I was on the phone with him, my cousin grabbed the phone from me and invited him to join us for the picnic and he did.
“From that day on he called me every day and would come to visit me often. And every time he came to see me he would bring me a pack of double mint chewing gum as a gift.”
That same year, David graduated from Southside High School and a year later in 1948 became a member of the U.S. Airforce for two years, during which he became a private 1st class.
Dorothy said she and David kept in touch through letters and would see each other during his occasional visits home.
“We would see each other during his weekend furlows,” she said. “We got married during one of those furlows. He was wearing his uniform the day we got married.”
David returned home to stay a few months later in the winter of 1949, Dorothy said.
David, whose nickname was “Red” because of his bright red hair, worked for many years in the printing business in Memphis. He was a pressman at Wimmer Brothers Printing, a pressman and printing estimator-salesman at Standard Printing Co., and an estimator at Holiday Press. David retired as an estimator from Austin Hennon Bindary about 12 years ago.
The couple later gave birth to their only daughter, Debra Garner, whom David chose as his favorite fishing partner.
“My dad had a fishing boat, and we used to go to Pickwick Lake a lot when I was younger and fish all day sometimes,” she said. “And we continued to fish together up until about five years ago.”
Debra said Pickwick is the place where her father taught her how to swim.
“I remember he pushed me off the fishing dock and I swam,” she said. “We had some good times on the lake.”
Debra said, aside from fishing, her father enjoyed doing yardwork and working on cars, and he especially loved traveling.
“He really liked to travel out west,” she said. “He traveled up until about two years ago. He was just an outgoing and energetic man for his age.”
Debra said David was also a people person.
“He loved family get togethers and being with friends,” she said. “And he also just loved to help people.”
In 1991, the Garners moved to Olive Branch, where David and Dorothy became members of Mineral Wells Methodist Church.
Debra said her father was “one of a kind.”