Memorial services for Daniel Day Watson, of Brookhaven, are Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017, at 2 p.m. at Faith Presbyterian Church in Brookhaven. Riverwood Family Funeral Services is in charge of arrangements.

Visitation will be Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017, from 2 p.m. until time of services at the church.

Mr. Watson, 41, died died Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017, unexpectedly of cardiac arrest at his home in Brookhaven.

He was born May 1, 1975, to Jennifer Entrican Watson and James Oliver Watson.

He graduated from Brookhaven High School in 1993. He attended the University of Mississippi, where he was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity.

Mr. Watson had many loves in his life. 

He loved his home church, Faith Presbyterian, and was a lifelong member active there from his earliest childhood days. He actively participated in the RUF campus ministry during college.  He loved practicing his faith.

He cherished opportunities to minister and serve and often did so by participating in various mission trips and service projects. 

During his middle school, high school and college days, he enjoyed attending retreats and conferences with his friends.  As always, everyone loved having “DW” in the center of the action making life more rich, colorful, warm and enjoyable for all.

He loved his Ole Miss Rebels and diligently pursued, in all sorts of creative ways, extending his stay in Oxford so he could keep drinking in the Ole Miss mystique. 

After his college days, he remained in Oxford.

During this season of life, he worked several jobs and managed the beloved “Library” where he became quite a fixture as he worked hard in various capacities while always practicing the art of true hospitality.  Later he owned and operated a successful business for quite some time.

Leaving Oxford was difficult, but he never questioned his decision to return to Brookhaven to care for his much beloved mother, “Jenny Beth.”

He was a devoted son who faithfully attended to her needs until the point of her death a year ago.  He did this gladly and always with a spirit of great appreciation of her lifelong practice of sacrificially loving her dear son.

One of the most formational forces in his life was Alpine Camp for Boys.

He was a camper and kitchen boy during his youth.  During college and afterwards he was a counselor and camp staff worker. 

Alpine’s motto is, “That they (boys) may increase in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and men.”  In the loving hands of our glorious God, Alpine was used to produce precisely such fruit in Mr. Watson’s life. He made many lifelong friends there while growing in the grace and knowledge of his dear Savior, Christ Jesus. 

Any mention of Alpine Camp for Boys brought an ear-to-ear smile across his beautiful face. He gladly testified of the profound impact made in his life by Mr. O, the entire O’Ferrall and Breazeale crew along with all the counselors and staff he encountered over the years at camp.

Wherever Danny Watson was and whatever he was doing, the common consensus was that he knew no stranger. He easily met people and rapidly embraced them in the bonds of friendship.  He treated everyone the same and, in his unique way, made everyone feel special. 

In all likelihood, this might have been his best attribute.  He was a friend to whomever he met.  Not just an acquaintance… a true friend.

You always knew you had a friend in Danny Watson. It seemed impossible to question the genuineness of his kindness and the steadfastness of his care.  You just knew he was one of those people who would always show up!  He would show up FOR YOU!  He made us all believe it, because he lived this ethic before our watching eyes. He was a friend that seemed closer than a brother.

Recently, one of his friends remarked this way about Danny, “He may be the richest man I knew.  Not because of money but because he was rich in friends and that’s the greatest measure of true wealth.” 

His greatest accomplishment was not what he did for himself but what he did and meant to those who knew him.  He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his maternal grandparents, Mildred Day and Louie L. Entrican of Brookhaven; and his paternal grandparents, Claude G. Watson and Carolyn Watson Allen of Flemingsburg, Kentucky.

Survivors are his aunt, Claudia Harrison along with her husband, Omar, of Leesburg, Florida; his two sisters, Elizabeth Watson Tabor along with her fiancé Bill Rogers, and Katherine Watson Flannery along with her husband, Terry Flannery, all of whom are from Florence, Kentucky; his niece, Kadence Flannery; and nephews Logan Cox, Ryan Tabor and Jameson Flannery.

A request for memorials to honor Mr. Watson may be made to his beloved Alpine Camp for Boys to provide camper scholarships for boys who could otherwise not afford camp.

Make checks payable to Alpine Camp for Boys and mail to Alpine Camp, P.O. Box 297, Mentone, AL 35984. Please note in the memo line that your donation is in memory of Danny Watson. 

To express your thoughts to the family, you may visit riverwoodfamily.com and click on his name to leave a comment.