Aubrey "Big Dan" Pryor

Pryor, Aubrey "Big Dan" 1/25/1930 - 2/21/2017 Portage, MI Aubrey "Big Dan" Pryor of Portage, MI passed away February 21, 2017. He was the son of Aubrey Owen "Jack" Pryor and Margarette Elvira "Vira" (Rie) Pryor. Big Dan was born January 25, 1930 in Three Rivers. His family moved from Arkansas to Michigan during World War II for wartime jobs. His mother was a riveter at a Detroit aircraft plant. Big Dan Pryor served in the US Navy from 1947-51 aboard USS Chevalier DD805, USS Higbee, etc. He was a boxer for the Navy in Long Beach, CA, and competed with the Kalamazoo Golden Gloves Amateur Boxers in early 1950s. Dan played football for the St. Louis Knights, Dearborn All-Stars, and Grand Rapids All Stars in the mid-1950s and went on to play semi-pro football for the Chicago Hornets Football Club in early 1960s. He attended Western Michigan University in 1963. He had careers as a painter with his father, painting smokestacks and steel mills in Chicago, a welder, building boxcars for the railroad, a realtor for Westdale Co. MI, and worked in heavy construction at Columbus Steel in OH. He loved his dogs, watching football, baseball and genealogy. He was a descendant of John Alexander Pryor, born 1750, and Martha Vaughn of Amelia County, VA, who brought the family to Louisville area shortly after Revolutionary War. There are thousands of John A. Pryor's descendants across the US. He is survived by his wife, Tina "Murphy" (Lipman) Pryor of Portage and their children, Shannon Pryor of Portage, John (Emily) Pryor of Camano Island, WA, Dan (Danielle) Pryor of Vicksburg, MI; his second wife, the late Phyllis (DeVries), and their son, Michael (Linda) Pryor of Cape Coral, FL; his 1st wife, Patricia (Stafford), and their children, Wynona "Nona" Pryor of Greensboro, NC, and Deborah "Debbie" (Pryor) Runyans of Randleman, NC; sister, Annie (Mike) (Pryor) Schenkel of Hobart, OK; brother, Danny (Deb) Pryor of Decatur, MI; many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and cousin, Bud Turner. Big Dan was cremated.