JUNE 6, 1918 – JANUARY 4, 2023
Miriam Ezell Downey, age 104, of Nashville, Tennessee passed away on Wednesday, January 4, 2023.
Miriam was married for 66 years to John B. Downey (who preceded her in death); mother of John B. Downey, Jr. (who preceded in her in death), Rodney E Downey, William W. Downey and Richard D. Downey; grandmother of Dawn Downey, Megan Kraski, Eugenie Saylor, Camile Ruggiero and William Downey and great grandmother to their children.
Miriam grew up on Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she played among the natural formations that would later become Rock City. She majored in English and psychology education at the University of Chattanooga, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and earning the Phi Beta Phi Achievement Award for scholarship. During World War II, as her husband served in the U.S. Air Force, she taught elementary and high school students in Tennessee, Alabama and Louisiana.
In the mid-fifties, she studied pastel and oil painting at Watkins Institute and exhibited her work at many Centennial Park shows on the grounds outside the Parthenon, where they sold well and garnered a blue ribbon at the Tennessee All-State Art Exhibition.
In the sixties and seventies, she began practicing yoga and taught yoga classes for twenty years, also writing a book for beginning yoga students titled "Make Yours Yoga" in 1979.
In her later years, she and her husband purchased several beachfront resorts in Florida, where they wintered. She was a skilled fisher, once landing a six-foot sailfish, a trophy catch that still hangs in her den.
As her family were descendants of the original Plymouth Colony, she was an active member of the Rachel Stockley Donelson Chapter of the D.A.R., as well as the United Daughters of the Confederacy. She was also a supporting member of Cheekwood, Belle Meade Mansion, and the Tower Society. She was a founding member of St. David's Church, 6501 Pennywell Drive in West Meade, which she has attended for more than fifty years.
A gathering of family and friends for Miriam will occur Saturday, January 14, 2023 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Saint David's Episcopal Church, 6501 Pennywell Drive, Nashville, TN 37205 with a celebration of life to follow from 11:00 AM with the Reverend Carolyn A. Coleman presiding. A graveside service will occur Saturday, January 14, 2023 at Mt Olivet Cemetery, 1101 Lebanon Pike, Nashville, TN 37210.
IN THE CARE OF
Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home & Woodlawn Memorial Park
Parent links provided by John T. Rice
~
Miriam Ezell Downey, age 104, of Nashville, Tennessee passed away on Wednesday, January 4, 2023.
Miriam was married for 66 years to John B. Downey (who preceded her in death); mother of John B. Downey, Jr. (who preceded in her in death), Rodney E Downey, William W. Downey and Richard D. Downey; grandmother of Dawn Downey, Megan Kraski, Eugenie Saylor, Camile Ruggiero and William Downey and great grandmother to their children.
Miriam grew up on Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she played among the natural formations that would later become Rock City. She majored in English and psychology education at the University of Chattanooga, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and earning the Phi Beta Phi Achievement Award for scholarship. During World War II, as her husband served in the U.S. Air Force, she taught elementary and high school students in Tennessee, Alabama and Louisiana.
In the mid-fifties, she studied pastel and oil painting at Watkins Institute and exhibited her work at many Centennial Park shows on the grounds outside the Parthenon, where they sold well and garnered a blue ribbon at the Tennessee All-State Art Exhibition.
In the sixties and seventies, she began practicing yoga and taught yoga classes for twenty years, also writing a book for beginning yoga students titled "Make Yours Yoga" in 1979.
In her later years, she and her husband purchased several beachfront resorts in Florida, where they wintered. She was a skilled fisher, once landing a six-foot sailfish, a trophy catch that still hangs in her den.
As her family were descendants of the original Plymouth Colony, she was an active member of the Rachel Stockley Donelson Chapter of the D.A.R., as well as the United Daughters of the Confederacy. She was also a supporting member of Cheekwood, Belle Meade Mansion, and the Tower Society. She was a founding member of St. David's Church, 6501 Pennywell Drive in West Meade, which she has attended for more than fifty years.
A gathering of family and friends for Miriam will occur Saturday, January 14, 2023 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Saint David's Episcopal Church, 6501 Pennywell Drive, Nashville, TN 37205 with a celebration of life to follow from 11:00 AM with the Reverend Carolyn A. Coleman presiding. A graveside service will occur Saturday, January 14, 2023 at Mt Olivet Cemetery, 1101 Lebanon Pike, Nashville, TN 37210.
IN THE CARE OF
Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home & Woodlawn Memorial Park
Parent links provided by John T. Rice
~
JUNE 6, 1918 – JANUARY 4, 2023
Miriam Ezell Downey, age 104, of Nashville, Tennessee passed away on Wednesday, January 4, 2023.
Miriam was married for 66 years to John B. Downey (who preceded her in death); mother of John B. Downey, Jr. (who preceded in her in death), Rodney E Downey, William W. Downey and Richard D. Downey; grandmother of Dawn Downey, Megan Kraski, Eugenie Saylor, Camile Ruggiero and William Downey and great grandmother to their children.
Miriam grew up on Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she played among the natural formations that would later become Rock City. She majored in English and psychology education at the University of Chattanooga, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and earning the Phi Beta Phi Achievement Award for scholarship. During World War II, as her husband served in the U.S. Air Force, she taught elementary and high school students in Tennessee, Alabama and Louisiana.
In the mid-fifties, she studied pastel and oil painting at Watkins Institute and exhibited her work at many Centennial Park shows on the grounds outside the Parthenon, where they sold well and garnered a blue ribbon at the Tennessee All-State Art Exhibition.
In the sixties and seventies, she began practicing yoga and taught yoga classes for twenty years, also writing a book for beginning yoga students titled "Make Yours Yoga" in 1979.
In her later years, she and her husband purchased several beachfront resorts in Florida, where they wintered. She was a skilled fisher, once landing a six-foot sailfish, a trophy catch that still hangs in her den.
As her family were descendants of the original Plymouth Colony, she was an active member of the Rachel Stockley Donelson Chapter of the D.A.R., as well as the United Daughters of the Confederacy. She was also a supporting member of Cheekwood, Belle Meade Mansion, and the Tower Society. She was a founding member of St. David's Church, 6501 Pennywell Drive in West Meade, which she has attended for more than fifty years.
A gathering of family and friends for Miriam will occur Saturday, January 14, 2023 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Saint David's Episcopal Church, 6501 Pennywell Drive, Nashville, TN 37205 with a celebration of life to follow from 11:00 AM with the Reverend Carolyn A. Coleman presiding. A graveside service will occur Saturday, January 14, 2023 at Mt Olivet Cemetery, 1101 Lebanon Pike, Nashville, TN 37210.
IN THE CARE OF
Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home & Woodlawn Memorial Park
Parent links provided by John T. Rice
~
Miriam Ezell Downey, age 104, of Nashville, Tennessee passed away on Wednesday, January 4, 2023.
Miriam was married for 66 years to John B. Downey (who preceded her in death); mother of John B. Downey, Jr. (who preceded in her in death), Rodney E Downey, William W. Downey and Richard D. Downey; grandmother of Dawn Downey, Megan Kraski, Eugenie Saylor, Camile Ruggiero and William Downey and great grandmother to their children.
Miriam grew up on Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she played among the natural formations that would later become Rock City. She majored in English and psychology education at the University of Chattanooga, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and earning the Phi Beta Phi Achievement Award for scholarship. During World War II, as her husband served in the U.S. Air Force, she taught elementary and high school students in Tennessee, Alabama and Louisiana.
In the mid-fifties, she studied pastel and oil painting at Watkins Institute and exhibited her work at many Centennial Park shows on the grounds outside the Parthenon, where they sold well and garnered a blue ribbon at the Tennessee All-State Art Exhibition.
In the sixties and seventies, she began practicing yoga and taught yoga classes for twenty years, also writing a book for beginning yoga students titled "Make Yours Yoga" in 1979.
In her later years, she and her husband purchased several beachfront resorts in Florida, where they wintered. She was a skilled fisher, once landing a six-foot sailfish, a trophy catch that still hangs in her den.
As her family were descendants of the original Plymouth Colony, she was an active member of the Rachel Stockley Donelson Chapter of the D.A.R., as well as the United Daughters of the Confederacy. She was also a supporting member of Cheekwood, Belle Meade Mansion, and the Tower Society. She was a founding member of St. David's Church, 6501 Pennywell Drive in West Meade, which she has attended for more than fifty years.
A gathering of family and friends for Miriam will occur Saturday, January 14, 2023 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Saint David's Episcopal Church, 6501 Pennywell Drive, Nashville, TN 37205 with a celebration of life to follow from 11:00 AM with the Reverend Carolyn A. Coleman presiding. A graveside service will occur Saturday, January 14, 2023 at Mt Olivet Cemetery, 1101 Lebanon Pike, Nashville, TN 37210.
IN THE CARE OF
Woodlawn-Roesch-Patton Funeral Home & Woodlawn Memorial Park
Parent links provided by John T. Rice
~
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