Mary Ellen Downey

Mary Ellen Downey

AMENIA — Mary Ellen Downey, 93, passed peacefully in her sleep at her home in Amenia on Dec. 16, 2021.

The eldest daughter of Florence (Licht) and Walter McDonald, Mary Ellen was born in the Bronx on March 14, 1928. She graduated from Immaculate Conception School and Amenia High School.

On Feb. 12,1949, she married her high school sweetheart, Thomas Joseph Downey Jr., who predeceased her in 2004. She was a lifelong member of Immaculate Conception Church and Catholic Daughters of America.

Mary Ellen actively mothered her three children and many of their friends through Boy and Girl Scouts, 4-H and numerous athletic programs while juggling a variety of careers in telephone switchboard operation, retail, election inspection and therapy assistance.

In her younger years, she was an avid bowler, skier, gardener, camper and horsewoman in the Bit-N-Spur club. After raising her family, she pursued her lifelong dream and obtained a BS from SUNY-New Paltz and a Master’s in Social Work from CW Post. Mary Ellen’s final career as a social worker for developmentally disabled adults was her true calling and she maintained strong relationships with both clients and coworkers throughout her life.

In retirement, Mary Ellen enjoyed baking, working at Fitch-Kain tag sales, and a variety of needlecrafts. Sewing more than 100 quilts for family, friends and charitable organizations gave her great pleasure. Her genealogical interest led to active membership in the Amenia Historical Society and Indian Rock Schoolhouse as well as local research for an extensive McDonald family reunion in 2002. Mary Ellen was very proud of her Irish heritage and had fond memories of her and Tom’s trip to Ireland with the Gallaghers.

In addition to her parents and husband, Mary Ellen was preceded in death by her sister, Patricia Macura; her daughter-in-law, Deborah Downey; and her great-grandson, Dolan Thomas Duncan.

She is survived by her sons, Thomas III and his wife, Moira; Robert and his wife, Bernadette; daughter Deborah Smith and her husband, Edward; brothers Walter and Joseph and his wife, Gail; sister Anne Cutolo; sisters-in-law Ellen Caldarelli and Catherine Gallagher and her husband, Edward.

She will be missed by her grandchildren, Michelle Downey-Demczar and her husband, Joseph, Rebecca Duncan and her partner, Steven, Thomas Downey IV and his wife, Kimberly, Robert Downey Jr., Kimberly Hazzard and her husband, Zachery, Zachary Smith and his wife, Casey, and Nicholas Smith and his wife, Jennifer; and her beloved great-grandchildren, Braeden, Thomas, Reilly, Liam, McKenna, Skarlytte, Addyssyn, Jameson and Korben; as well as numerous step-grandchildren, step-great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and many dear friends.

Calling hours were held Dec. 21 at Hufcut Funeral Home in Dover Plains. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Dec. 22 at Immaculate Conception Church in Amenia. Burial followed at Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Amenia.

In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests donations to Immaculate Conception Church, 4 Lavelle Road, Amenia, NY 12501; or the Amenia Historical Society, P.O. Box 22, Amenia, NY 12501. To send the family an online condolence, please visit www.hufcutfuneralhome.com.

Latest News

Ruth Franklin discusses ‘The Many Lives of Anne Frank’ at Beth David

Ruth Franklin and Ileene Smith in conversation at Congregation Beth David in Amenia.

Natalia Zukerman

Congregation Beth David in Amenia hosted a conversation on the enduring legacy of Anne Frank, one of the 20th century’s most iconic figures. Ruth Franklin, award-winning biographer and critic, shared insights from her highly acclaimed book “The Many Lives of Anne Frank” with thought-provoking questions from Ileene Smith, Editorial Director of the Jewish Lives series. This event, held on July 23 — the date Anne Frank would have turned 96 — invited the large audience to reconsider Anne Frank not just as the young writer of a world-famous diary, but as a cultural symbol shaped by decades of representation and misrepresentation.

Franklin and Smith dove right in; Franklin reading a passage from the book that exemplified her approach to Anne’s life. She described her work as both a biography of Anne Frank and a cultural history of the diary itself, a document that has resonated across the world.

Keep ReadingShow less
Prokofiev, piano and perfection: Yuja Wang at Tanglewood

Yuja Wang performs with the TMCO and Andris Nelsons.

Hilary Scott

Sunday, July 20 was sunny and warm. Nic Mayorga, son of American concert pianist, the late Lincoln Mayorga, joined me at Tanglewood to hear Yuja Wang play Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16. I first saw Wang on July 8, 2022, when she filled in for Jean-Yves Thibaudet on the opening night of Tanglewood’s summer season. She virtually blew the shed down with her powerful and dynamic playing of Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

Nic was my guest last season on July 13, when Wang wowed us with her delicate interpretation of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. We made plans on the spot to return for her next date in Lenox.

Keep ReadingShow less