Hugh Daniel "Danny" Black

Danny, as everyone called him, was born on December 18, 1949, in Cartersville, GA to the late Hugh McGowen Black and the late Effie Ledford Black. He attended Cartersville High School and even though he dropped out of high school he went on to be a successful surveyor.

He began working as a rodman at Hensley and Schmidt in Marietta, Ga in 1968. He was promoted to transit man within 4 months surveying boundaries, sewers, urban renewals, roads and airports. He went on to work for Mayes, Sudderth and Etheridge in Marietta where he was promoted to party chief after 8 months. He continued working in multiple other surveying companies as party chief in Georgia. During this time, he met his first wife and they had their daughter, Paula (Black) Tatum. He eventually moved to Greensboro, North Carolina and worked for Southern Mapping and Engineering for two years. In 1978, professional surveyors, Wayne Right Engineering in Dothan, AL hired him as a party chief and during this time he surveyed topography which included airports in Birmingham, AL, Dothan, AL, Gadsden, AL, Montgomery, AL and Anniston, AL. This led him to do contract work for the Corp of Engineers on the Tennessee Tombigbee waterway in Mississippi and Alabama. He then met and married his second wife and they had two daughters, Tiffany (Black) Hamlin and Heather (Black) Beckham.

From 1980 to 1997 he worked for Southern Mapping and Engineering as a party chief surveying Greensboro Highpoint Winston Salem Regional Airport and various other projects including cross country gas lines for Piedmont Natural Gas and Public Service gas company. He, his second wife and two daughters moved back to Cartersville, GA in 1997. He worked for Mayes, Sudderth, and Etheridge again as a party chief working on various surveying projects. He supervised two crews to stake all control grades at the Atlanta Airport. He then worked as the 1st shift supervisor over 19 survey crews to remove and replace the right of way at the Atlanta Airport. The job was completed in 34 days working 24 hours per day. He then met and married his third wife, Barbara Kaye Black.

While married to his third wife he enjoyed trips with her to casinos and a family trip to Disney. He retired in 2011 after 43 years of surveying. He loved watching professional football. His favorite team was the Atlanta Falcons. He was an avid outdoorsman his entire life hence the reason for his chosen profession. His favorite pastime was deer hunting. He traveled and hunted in various states across the Southeastern United States which included resort hunts. His children have many memories of him bringing home a deer and processing it on his kitchen floor. He was sometimes called Daniel Boone because it only took him one shot to bag his deer. He also enjoyed fishing, specifically bass fishing. He enjoyed fishing in Lake Weiss in Alabama and participated in crappy fishing tournaments at Lake Kerr in Virginia. He traveled with his brother to various places to fish including deep fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Danny was preceded in death by his parents, Hugh McGowen Black and Effie Ledford Black, his brother Douglas Lee Black, his third wife Barbara Kaye Black and various other extended family members.

He is survived by his daughters Paula Tatum (Georgia), Tiffany Hamlin (Mississippi), and Heather Beckham (Indiana). His grandchildren Dakota Tatum, Kayleigh Tatum, Kiarra Hamlin, Ellawyn Hamlin, Felicitti Hamlin, Aurora Beckham, Declan Beckham and Cossette Beckham. His sisters Ruby Diane Anderson and Deborah Kay Lumpkin; various cousins, nieces, nephews, other family members and friends.

Funeral services will be conducted graveside at Oak Hill Cemetery in Cartersville GA on Sunday, September 27, 2026 at 1pm. There will be a closed casket and no visitation.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Tranquility House, which is a domestic violence center. Donations may be sent by mail to Tranquility House, PO Box 1383, Cartersville, GA 30120 online at www.tranquility-house.org

Services under the direction of Owen Funeral Home, 12 Collins Drive, Cartersville, GA 20120. 770-382-3030, OwenFunerals.com