William E. Downey Jr.

1931 - 2018

LINCOLN - DOWNEY, Jr., William Emerson. It is with great sadness that the family of William Emerson Downey, Jr. announces his passing on Saturday, March 24, 2018, at the age of 87. Bill will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 47 years, Sabine, and his children, Rebecca and Markus. Bill will also be fondly remembered by his grandchildren, Amina and Belel.
Bill was born February 28, 1931, a native of Lincoln, Rhode Island, who attended Lincoln Memorial Junior High School before going to Classical High in Providence, RI. It was at Classical that Bill developed an interest in journalism and started working for the Pawtucket Times and later, during his time at Brown University, for the Providence Journal.
Bill followed his calling into the ministry and studied theology at Boston University. He was ordained in 1955 in his home church, Sayles Memorial, in Lincoln and worked in Pawtucket at Smithfield Avenue Congregational Church before getting a doctorate in early childhood education from Andover Newton. His marriage to Sabine in 1970 lead to a joint ministry appointment at Edgewood Congregational Church in Cranston, RI, of both Bill and Sabine, also a minister. They moved to Berlin, Germany in 1977 and Bill worked in the German church and for two large hospitals as a chaplain. In his retirement, Bill traveled yearly back to Rhode Island to enjoy the beaches in the company of his wife, children and grandchildren.
A Funeral Service in memory of Bill was held on April 13th, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. He has been laid to rest in the Christusfriedhof Cemetery in Mariendorf, Berlin, Germany, adjacent to where Sabine still resides. Please direct correspondence to Rebecca Downey, 206 Southpoint Drive, Williamsburg, VA 23185.