Til Valhalla Project Collaborates With Marquette Catholic High School To Memorialize Hero

ALTON - Marquette Catholic High School students and staff presented a memorial plaque on Friday, March 27, 2026, to Cynthia Down, the widow of SSgt. and Capt. William R. Down, in partnership with the Til Valhalla Project.

Marquette Catholic students James Sehorn, Carson Jones, Noah Menke, Melanie Marshall, Kaylin St. Peters, Juliana Urhahn, and Dakota Nelson took part in the presentation, along with staff members Mike Roberts and Jon Podner, according to information provided by Podner, who is with Technology Systems at the school.

William R. Down, 60, served in the U.S. Air Force and later with the Boeing Fire Department, where he rose to the rank of captain, Podner said. Down was born May 21, 1959, and “passed away from health complications on June 5, 2019,” Podner said.

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Down served as a security specialist with the 351st Missile Security Squadron under Strategic Air Command at Whiteman Air Force Base, where he “maintained security and protected the base’s nuclear ICBMs stockpile,” Podner said. After his Air Force service, Down became a firefighter “with several departments” before joining the Boeing Fire Department, Podner said.

The Til Valhalla Project began when “Proud USMC Veteran Korey Shaffer and his wife Tiffany began making memorial plaques for Fallen Military & First Responders to ensure their legacies lived on no matter how or when they passed,” Podner said. Shaffer “knew he couldn’t ask the family of a Fallen Hero to pay for a plaque,” and began making T-shirts to fund them.

Today, T.V.P. pays tribute to dozens more Fallen Heroes each month while funding therapy for struggling veterans. Several times a day, all across the nation, they surprise-deliver memorial plaques to the families of fallen military and first responders at no cost to them.

Podner expressed pride in the Marquette Catholic students' involvement in the presentation of the memorial plaque.

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