John Robert Downey

A Celebration of Life for John Robert Downey, 64 of Aledo, will be held on Thursday, November 10, 2016 at 10:30 AM at College Avenue Presbyterian Church. Burial will follow at the Oak Ridge Cemetery, Millersburg. Visitation is Wednesday from 4 to 7 PM at Speer Funeral Home, Aledo. Memorials may be made to the College Avenue Presbyterian Church or the Oak Ridge Cemetery. John died Saturday, November 5, 2016 at Genesis Medical Center, Aledo. John was born February 6, 1952 to Robert & Lois (Dumelow) Downey. He was a 1970 Graduate of Aledo High School and attended Western Illinois University where he was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity. On August 11, 1979, John and Mary Kay Husmann were united in marriage in Godfrey, Illinois. A lifelong farmer in Mercer County, John was especially passionate about organic farming and was a member of the Farm Bureau and the Soil Conservation Board. John served as Elder of the College Avenue Presbyterian Church and was President of the Oak Ridge Cemetery. John was a devoted family man who loved attending his children’s athletic and musical performances. He cherished annual family vacations with the extended Downey family on the Michigan beach. He was well known for his extraordinary kindness, generosity and dry sense of humor.  He was dedicated to his hometown, his neighbors and to those who worked with him on the farm. His innovative approach to farm practices exemplified his stewardship of the farm that has been in his family for over a century. Those left to cherish John’s memory include his wife, Kay; 3 children: Matthew (Amy) Downey and their daughter, Anna of Boggstown, IN; Mary Ellen (Patrick) Flanagan of St. Louis and Emma Downey  and fiancé, Jesse Snyder of Aledo; mother: Lois (Dumelow Downey) Guither and husband, Harold of Savoy, IL; 3 siblings: Jim Downey (James Waller) of Los Angeles; Andrew (Teena) Downey of Streator, IL and Ann (Clem) Weidenbenner of Grove City, OH; father-in-law: Bob (Fran) Husmann of Godfrey, IL; sister-in-law, Diane (Mitch) Neuhaus of St. Louis. John was preceded in death by his father, Robert Downey and mother-in-law, Mary Etta Husmann.