Mary Downes

Mary Bridget DOWNES, died peacefully at the age of 85 on the morning of October 11, 2017. The daughter of Christopher and Dolly (Donovan) Dillon, she grew up in West Harlem with her sisters Dorothy and Kathleen. The wife of the late Lawrence P. Downes, Jr., Mary was a resident of Flushing, Queens, and a part-time resident of Hampton Bays. She received her R.N. from Bellevue Nursing School, and undergraduate and graduate degrees from Queens College and Lehman College, CUNY. She was also a graduate of the first class of nurse practitioners through Cornell University and the New York City Department of Health, where she worked for over 25 years in child and adolescent health with her dear friend Margery Manly. She was a parishioner of St. Kevin’s Church, Flushing, for 60 years, served as a Eucharistic Minister, and also attended Mass at St. Rosalie’s Church, Hampton Bays. A kind and generous woman with a warm and beautiful smile, Mary devoted her life and her boundless love to her children, Bridget (John Jordan), Larry, Moira (Doug Sabo), Chris (Sue), Sean (Marianne), Kevin, and Deirdre (Lennart Pehrson) and her grandchildren, Cara, Luke, Grace, Mary, Douglas, Anna, Maggie, Claire, Kathleen, Mollie, Katie, Julia and Maja. The family will be receiving visitors at Frederick Funeral Home, 192-15 Northern Boulevard, Flushing, NY, on Thursday, October 12 (7 pm to 9 pm), and on Friday, October 13 (2 pm to 5 pm and 7 pm to 9 pm). Mass of Christian Burial to be celebrated on Saturday, October 14, 2017 at 9:45 am at St. Kevin’s RC Church, 45-21 194th Street, Flushing, NY. Interment at Sacred Heart Cemetery, Southampton, NY. No flowers, please. If you wish, consider a donation in our Mom’s memory to either Southampton Fresh Air Home, 36 Barkers Island Road, Southampton, NY 11968 (www.sfah.org) or Southampton Hospital Foundation (Coalition for Women’s Cancers), 240 Meeting House Lane, Southampton, NY 11968 (www.cwcshh.org).