Fred Austin Downey
Marriages
MILDRED SMITH - February 24, 1945
Burial Details
Obituaries
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 3D - March 9, 1997
Unknown
Fred A. Downey died Friday March 7, 1997 in Community Hospital in Grand Junction after an extended battle with lung cancer. He was 75.
Fred was born Nov 24, 1921 to Austin Devere Downey and Martha Reining Downey at Glenwood Springs, Colorado, their only child. He grew up in the Frying Pan River valley and went to school in Basalt, graduating in 1939. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on June 10, 1942 and served as an aircraft mechanic stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska, honorably discharged Nov 8, 1945.
He married Mildred Smith of Carbondale on February 24, 1945 and they settled in Eagle, Colorado for 6 years, then moved to Glenwood Springs where they lived until 1993, when they retired to Grand Junction. He was a devoted husband and father to four sons: David, Douglas, Robert, and Randy, and grandfather to seven grandchildren; Gabriel, Jedediah, and Sara Lou, child of David and Vickie Downey of Grand Junction; Katy, daughter of Douglas and Ann Downey of Colorado Springs; Morgan, daughter of Robert and Avid Downey of Littleton; and Setephen and Nicholas, sons of Randy and Nina Downey of Arvada.
He worked at a number of jobs following service discharge. He worked at a service station in Eagle, then purchased the OK Tie Company there. After moving to Glenwood Springs in 1951, he worked at the local Buick dealership, Midcontinent Coke and Coal Company, Rio Grande Motorway, Colorado Mountain College, Napa Auto Parts, and Troy Cleaners.
He was an avid fishermen and an outstanding hunter. He was very involved with his sons' activities, serving as assistant Boy Scout leader in Glenwood Springs for many years. During his life, he often worked at two jobs to support his family. He was a long-standing member of the Methodist Church of Glenwood Springs and also served as its caretaker for a number of years.
His father was a game warden and Fred spent the great majority of his early boyhood living with his father, often out of tent, along the Frying Pan and Roaring Fork rivers after his parents had separated when he was 2 years old. After their sons left home, he and Midge greatly enjoyed their many camping trips to many favorite campgrounds in Colorado.
