Born in Louisville, Kentucky on August 23, 1960, to Lester and Betty Jean Huey, she was the eldest of what would become a family of four. Dani’s family moved extensively while she was growing up, and these childhood homes were remembered through stories. She spoke of family trips to the beach with sticky car rides home in Houston, picking after-school snacks from the avocado tree in the backyard in Los Angeles, and playing with cousins from across the street in Jeffersonville, IN.
Dani would go on to graduate from Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, TN, majoring English. While working at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville she met the love of her life, Joseph Michael Willard. Two years later, they were married, on April 12, 1986, at Holy Name Church in Nashville, TN.
In a small, white house with a red door in Knoxville, TN, their family started with the birth of their son Andrew, followed by their first daughter, Kelsey. After moving to Americus, GA in 1994, the family grew with the birth of their third child, Erin. While there Dani worked as editor of Habitat for Humanity International’s Affiliate Update newsletter. In Americus, they made lifelong friends with whom they danced, sang, and feasted on warm summer nights in the backyard. During this time, Dani traveled to Portugal as part of a Habitat Global Village trip. This being her first international trip, it ignited a love of travel and cultures. In 2004, the family moved to Austin, Texas. There they welcomed the birth of their fourth child, Lauren.
Dani filled her family's lives with international travel, laughs, great food and stories. Over her life she would coordinate family trips to 10 countries across 4 continents. While at home she spent time gardening, filling the yard with native wildflowers and tending to her vegetable garden. She was passionate about travel, cooking, her children’s education, and being eco-friendly long before it was cool. Our family dinners will feel her loss.
She is survived by her husband, all her children, and her sister Lynn. She will be welcomed home by her parents, brother, Jeff, sister, Timi and her father-in-law George Willard.
Her memorial mass will be Saturday October 23, 2021, at St. Austin Catholic Church at 11:00 in the morning, in Austin. There will be a rosary prior to the mass at 10:30 am. The church parking garage is located at 1900 San Antonio St Austin, TX 78705. The garage entrance is on San Antonio St. "In this time of pandemic when travel and gathering pose serious risks, we invite you to be with us by tuning in to the livestream of the service on the website in the Mass Broadcast window. Here is a link to that portal: https://staustin.org/mass."
In lieu of flowers (she hated cut flowers), donations can be made in her honor to Doctors Without Borders, www.doctorswithoutborders.org; or Austin Habitat for Humanity, www.austinhabitat.org.
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