Robert A. Downey

Robert A. Downey, Requiescat in Pace, 82, died Saturday, June 30, 2007, in Jupiter, Fla., after a long battle with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
Loving dad to the Rev. David C. Downey, of St. Peter Catholic Church, Jupiter, beloved husband of 40 years to the late Mary Kinalski Downey of Chicago, and since 1999 to Jo'an Vanderford Downey of Lincoln, Neb.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his brothers, J. Vincent and Harold E. Downey of Rhode Island.
He leaves to cherish his memory his late brother Harold's wife, Marion of Carolina; his nieces and their families of Carolina and Narragansett; his many lifelong Rhode Island friends; his good neighbors and friends of 35 years in South Holland, Ill., as well as his late wife Mary's family and their friends in the Chicago-land area.
Born in Westerly, he was a U.S. Navy World War II Veteran, a 1950 graduate of the University Of Rhode Island College of Engineering, a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity, and he played for the URI baseball team. He worked for the B&O Railroad, mostly in Chicago, retiring in 1987.
Bob and Mary loved to travel. He was an avid gardener and die-hard St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan. After retirement, Bob devoted three days a week to tutoring inner-city children in math and science with the Archdiocese of Chicago. Bob was a daily communicant at Holy Ghost Catholic Church in South Holland, Ill. Bob also volunteered with the ministry of Mother Teresa's Sisters in Chicago.
A Funeral Mass was celebrated by his son on Saturday, July 7, at St. Peter Catholic Church, 1701 Indian Creek Pkwy., Jupiter, FL 33458. Final Commendation Prayers will take place Tuesday July 10 at 11 a.m. at the Our Lady of Czestochowa Chapel in the Mausoleum of Resurrection Catholic Cemetery in Justice, Ill., with interment to follow immediately in the family plot.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the St. Peter Catholic Church Building Fund will be appreciated.