David Harkness Obituary, Death – Reverend David Stilphen Harkness passed away on November 3, 2023, after having contributed to the betterment of the world for the previous 95 years. David was a compassionate and socially conscious Christian, a minister with the heart of a pastor, a witness of unconditional love, a storyteller with a stellar sense of humor, an adventurer who dared to pursue the extraordinary, an optimist of authentic character, a minister with the heart of a pastor, a minister with the heart of a minister, and the best Daddy and Poppy in the whole wide world.
Although she was born in Biloxi, Mississippi on July 30, 1928, she was reared in Texarkana, Texas. The offspring of William N. Harkness, a defense attorney and the former Mayor of Texarkana, and Bonnie Ball Harkness. He has degrees in pastoral care from Baylor University, Louisville Baptist Seminary, Vanderbilt Divinity School, and Dorothea Dix Hospital in Winston-Salem. He is a Baylor University and Louisville Baptist Seminary graduate. Because of his unquenchable appetite for learning, he enrolled in a wide range of engaging courses all around the United States, from New York City to Berkeley to Fairbanks. He held the rank of Second Lieutenant in the United States Army.
He spent the better part of the past seven decades sharing his life with his wife, Betty Graham of Drew, Mississippi. Together, they raised two children, Amy and Molly (Tony Cameron), as well as two granddaughters, Caroline and Amelia. Since 1961, he had made his home in Nashville, where he also held the position of Minister of Pastoral Care at Downtown Presbyterian Church, one of several Presbyterian churches he had served. Since 1976, he has been a regular attendee at Downtown Presbyterian Church, where he is also a member of the Middle Tennessee Presbytery and Synod of Living Waters.
