/*Dave Garrett*/ was to our viewers the voice of SkyEye HD, but to his loved ones gathered for his funeral, he was someone, infinitely more important .
"He was a consistent man, a loving man," friend Ray Gomez told us.
Gomez talked about the many shared hours of friendship.
"Mostly there was laughter, that we'd do amid guitar playing that we would do year in and year out as we both got older," Gomez said.
The two lost touch, but would reconnect one afternoon by way of Channel 13.
"I heard reporting 'Live from SkyEye 13, this is Dave Garrett,' and I froze," said Gomez. "I didn't need anyone to tell me that was Dave. If you knew Dave's voice, it was etched in your mind forever. It's his voice I'll miss the most, telling me the joys of fatherhood, to this hopeless bachelor."
And there was no shortage of stories, the kind of moments Dave shared every day with his family, especially with his young son, Adam.
"One of the many things he did for his son Adam was go to Chuck E. Cheese again and again," said friend Darlene Thurm. "With a smile on his face and a chuckle in his voice, he would look at us and say, 'I don't think I can eat that food again.' But he would go anyway. We could truly see the love he had in his heart for his son."
Dave's friends and family clearly loved him the same way.
"We will truly miss his humor and his friendship," said Thurm. "Dave, you will always be our eyes in the sky."
SkyEye HD's pilot John Downhower was honored yesterday in The Woodlands by friends and colleagues. He was at the controls when SkyEeye went down. John's family says his love for flying started when he was 18 years old. He became an accomplished pilot, receiving a dual rating for helicopters and airplanes.
The families of both Garrett and Downhower are asking that you contribute to funds set up for the men's children, in lieu of flowers.
For the Garrett family, contributions can be made to:
Adam Ryan Garrett Educational Fund
PO Box 1811
Sugarland, Tx 77478-1811
For the Downhower family, contributions can be made to:
Mitchell Downhower College Fund
Any Wells Fargo Bank
Slideshow archive | ABC13 wireless | Help solve crimes
