Dana Joan Long

Dana “Rusty” Long

Dana Joan (nee: Todd) Long of Waxahachie, Texas, affectionately nicknamed “Rusty” by her father on the day she was born because of her beautiful red hair, died on September 20, 2024 after a courageous six-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease. A beloved wife, mother, grandmother, friend, and servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, she was 78 years old.

Born on January 18, 1946 in Rockford, Illinois, Dana was the second of six children born to William Kenneth and Dorothy Marion Todd. She attended the University of Missouri, was a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority, and graduated in 1968 with a bachelor of education degree in social studies. While at Mizzou, she met her future husband, Kenneth Hammond Long, and they married on August 3, 1968. 

The greatest loves of her life were her husband and her three children; she was an incredible wife to Ken and mother to Beth Ann, Mark, and Megan. In addition, she and her husband served as foster parents to nine other children through the years. Secretly, her other great love was the plentitude of cats “that followed her home” throughout her lifetime. 

Dana’s greatest passion was knowing and serving her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She was the substitute teaching leader for the Round Rock (TX) women’s class of Bible Study Fellowship International for 12 years, after which she became the teaching leader for the “Women In The Word” ministry at First Evangelical Free Church of Austin, Texas, a position she held for ten years. During that time, she authored several Bible studies to better meet the needs of the women she taught. 

Dana taught U.S. history in Augusta, GA while her husband was in the Army, and she later substitute taught in public schools in Texas. She was a tremendous support to her husband in his newspaper career in Cuero, TX and Round Rock, TX, but the couple took a career change in 2007 when they were asked to join the Rafiki Foundation, a Christian ministry that has built and operates orphanages and schools in ten African countries. The Longs worked at the ministry’s home office in Eustis, FL, and Dana was able to visit Rafiki orphanages in Liberia, Ghana and Nigeria. During her employment, she is credited with writing more than 600 pages of the Rafiki Bible Study, taking the adult version of that in-depth study and rewriting it for comprehension by first through third graders in Africa. She retired from the ministry in 2017. 

Mrs. Long is survived by her husband of 56 years, Kenneth H. Long of Waxahachie, TX; her three children: Beth Davis and husband Rusty of Midlothian, TX; Mark Long and wife Corrie of Keller, TX; and Megan Braswell and husband Greg of North Richland Hills, TX. She was the blessed grandmother to Jaxon and Gramm Davis; Cade, Colson, McKinnan and Tucker Braswell, and to Landrie, Tatem, Harper, Briggs, and Korbyn Long. She is also survived by four sisters: Nancy Catherman of Smithville, TX, Dorothy Hobbs of Houston, TX, Laury Toungate of Richmond, TX, and Mary Jane Todd-Day of Hutto, TX, and eight nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, William K. Todd Jr.

A private graveside service will be held at Austin Memorial Park Cemetery on September 27, 2024 under the direction of Wayne Boze Funeral Home of Waxahachie, TX. A celebration of Mrs. Long’s life will be held at Central Presbyterian Church in Waxahachie, Texas, on November 16, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to the Rafiki Foundation, P.O. Box 1988, Eustis, FL, or to the charity of their choice.