Shirley Keene (Lowell) Down
Shirley Keene (Lowell) Down, 95
WESTBROOK -- Shirley Keene Down died Sunday, Oct. 15, 2006, at the South Portland Nursing Home.
Shirley was born Aug. 2,1911, in South Portland, the daughter of Samuel and Maude (Keene) Lowell.
She married on Aug. 24, 1940, in South Portland, to James Stanley Down, the son of James Frederick and Katherine Denwood (Gibson) Down.
Shirley attended the South Portland schools Willard and Henley and graduated from the high school in the class of 1930. She studied piano and at a young age she and her cousin Madeline Lowell played duets at Grange functions and at church.
In high school she accompanied the girl's glee club for three years and was pianist for the orchestra her junior and senior years. After joining the choir of the People's Methodist Episcopal Church of South Portland she was asked to play the organ for church for two weeks and then a wedding and she was hooked. From then on her main love was the organ with the piano a close second. After moving to Pride's Corner in Westbrook in 1940, she joined the Pride's Corner Union Church, now the Pride's Corner Congregational Church, U.C.C. and sang in the choir, later becoming the choir director and organist for many years.
In the 1930s, she was a charter member of the Dressage Riding Club at Plantation Stables, Mitchell Rd., Cape Elizabeth. Later, she helped form a riding club at the Clinton Rines Walnut Crest Farm in Gorham where Mrs. Rines had baked beans waiting in the clubhouse after rides through the fields. She also joined the Girls' Business Club of the Y.W.C.A. on Free Street where she had many wonderful times. She enjoyed taking the snow train to Fryeburg where local groups met the train with sleighs. Many pleasant hours were spent walking along Willard Beach and dancing at the Inn.
Prior to her marriage, Shirley worked as a bookkeeper for Ray Libby's Garage Blue Bird Cabs on Forest Ave., Portland, later in Porteous, Mitchell & Braun, and then the Cumberland Power & Light Co.
She enjoyed being a band mother when her son James was in the band and she joined the Band Mothers, traveling with them to concerts including the Macy's 33rd Thanksgiving Day Parade. She loved the outdoors and working in her flower gardens. Various cats were the pets of the house. Shirley loved to read books, especially those about Maine, nature and different countries. She read many poems and wrote a few and also watched the daily news on television and read her daily paper.
She is predeceased by her husband James who died in Portland, Aug. 30, 1977; a daughter, Sharon Lowell McDermott who died in Boston, Mass., Dec. 22, 1967; a son James Edward Down of Springfield, Va., who died in Burke, Va., May 13, 2001; a sister, Eleanor Shanks died South Portland, Jan. 14, 1991; and a brother Russell Gibson Lowell who died Portland, Feb. 6, 2006. She is survived by a daughter Janice Eleanor Gower of Raymond; six grandchildren, Kevin Scott Gower of Leesburg, Va., Michael Dean Gower of Wells, Brenda Jean Gower of Raymond, Christopher Kevin McDermott of Westford, Mass., Deborah Ann (Down) Maydak of Joppa, Md., Brian Scott Down of Woodbridge, Va.; six great-grandchildren, Brandon Scott and Dillon Patrick Gower of Leesburg, Va., Zachary Ward Gower of Wells, Addison Baker McDermott of Westford, Mass., and Camden James and Tanner Noll Maydak of Joppa, Md.
Visiting hours will be 2-4, and 6-8 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 18, at Hobbs Funeral Home, 230 Cottage Road, South Portland. A memorial service will be held 10:30 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 19, at Prides' Corner Congregational Church, 235 Prides Street, Westbrook, with a committal service at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery, South Portland to follow.
Published in the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram from 10/17/2006 - 10/19/2006.
Shirley Keene (Lowell) Down, 95
WESTBROOK -- Shirley Keene Down died Sunday, Oct. 15, 2006, at the South Portland Nursing Home.
Shirley was born Aug. 2,1911, in South Portland, the daughter of Samuel and Maude (Keene) Lowell.
She married on Aug. 24, 1940, in South Portland, to James Stanley Down, the son of James Frederick and Katherine Denwood (Gibson) Down.
Shirley attended the South Portland schools Willard and Henley and graduated from the high school in the class of 1930. She studied piano and at a young age she and her cousin Madeline Lowell played duets at Grange functions and at church.
In high school she accompanied the girl's glee club for three years and was pianist for the orchestra her junior and senior years. After joining the choir of the People's Methodist Episcopal Church of South Portland she was asked to play the organ for church for two weeks and then a wedding and she was hooked. From then on her main love was the organ with the piano a close second. After moving to Pride's Corner in Westbrook in 1940, she joined the Pride's Corner Union Church, now the Pride's Corner Congregational Church, U.C.C. and sang in the choir, later becoming the choir director and organist for many years.
In the 1930s, she was a charter member of the Dressage Riding Club at Plantation Stables, Mitchell Rd., Cape Elizabeth. Later, she helped form a riding club at the Clinton Rines Walnut Crest Farm in Gorham where Mrs. Rines had baked beans waiting in the clubhouse after rides through the fields. She also joined the Girls' Business Club of the Y.W.C.A. on Free Street where she had many wonderful times. She enjoyed taking the snow train to Fryeburg where local groups met the train with sleighs. Many pleasant hours were spent walking along Willard Beach and dancing at the Inn.
Prior to her marriage, Shirley worked as a bookkeeper for Ray Libby's Garage Blue Bird Cabs on Forest Ave., Portland, later in Porteous, Mitchell & Braun, and then the Cumberland Power & Light Co.
She enjoyed being a band mother when her son James was in the band and she joined the Band Mothers, traveling with them to concerts including the Macy's 33rd Thanksgiving Day Parade. She loved the outdoors and working in her flower gardens. Various cats were the pets of the house. Shirley loved to read books, especially those about Maine, nature and different countries. She read many poems and wrote a few and also watched the daily news on television and read her daily paper.
She is predeceased by her husband James who died in Portland, Aug. 30, 1977; a daughter, Sharon Lowell McDermott who died in Boston, Mass., Dec. 22, 1967; a son James Edward Down of Springfield, Va., who died in Burke, Va., May 13, 2001; a sister, Eleanor Shanks died South Portland, Jan. 14, 1991; and a brother Russell Gibson Lowell who died Portland, Feb. 6, 2006. She is survived by a daughter Janice Eleanor Gower of Raymond; six grandchildren, Kevin Scott Gower of Leesburg, Va., Michael Dean Gower of Wells, Brenda Jean Gower of Raymond, Christopher Kevin McDermott of Westford, Mass., Deborah Ann (Down) Maydak of Joppa, Md., Brian Scott Down of Woodbridge, Va.; six great-grandchildren, Brandon Scott and Dillon Patrick Gower of Leesburg, Va., Zachary Ward Gower of Wells, Addison Baker McDermott of Westford, Mass., and Camden James and Tanner Noll Maydak of Joppa, Md.
Visiting hours will be 2-4, and 6-8 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 18, at Hobbs Funeral Home, 230 Cottage Road, South Portland. A memorial service will be held 10:30 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 19, at Prides' Corner Congregational Church, 235 Prides Street, Westbrook, with a committal service at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery, South Portland to follow.
Published in the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram from 10/17/2006 - 10/19/2006.
Shirley Keene (Lowell) Down
Shirley Keene (Lowell) Down, 95
WESTBROOK -- Shirley Keene Down died Sunday, Oct. 15, 2006, at the South Portland Nursing Home.
Shirley was born Aug. 2,1911, in South Portland, the daughter of Samuel and Maude (Keene) Lowell.
She married on Aug. 24, 1940, in South Portland, to James Stanley Down, the son of James Frederick and Katherine Denwood (Gibson) Down.
Shirley attended the South Portland schools Willard and Henley and graduated from the high school in the class of 1930. She studied piano and at a young age she and her cousin Madeline Lowell played duets at Grange functions and at church.
In high school she accompanied the girl's glee club for three years and was pianist for the orchestra her junior and senior years. After joining the choir of the People's Methodist Episcopal Church of South Portland she was asked to play the organ for church for two weeks and then a wedding and she was hooked. From then on her main love was the organ with the piano a close second. After moving to Pride's Corner in Westbrook in 1940, she joined the Pride's Corner Union Church, now the Pride's Corner Congregational Church, U.C.C. and sang in the choir, later becoming the choir director and organist for many years.
In the 1930s, she was a charter member of the Dressage Riding Club at Plantation Stables, Mitchell Rd., Cape Elizabeth. Later, she helped form a riding club at the Clinton Rines Walnut Crest Farm in Gorham where Mrs. Rines had baked beans waiting in the clubhouse after rides through the fields. She also joined the Girls' Business Club of the Y.W.C.A. on Free Street where she had many wonderful times. She enjoyed taking the snow train to Fryeburg where local groups met the train with sleighs. Many pleasant hours were spent walking along Willard Beach and dancing at the Inn.
Prior to her marriage, Shirley worked as a bookkeeper for Ray Libby's Garage Blue Bird Cabs on Forest Ave., Portland, later in Porteous, Mitchell & Braun, and then the Cumberland Power & Light Co.
She enjoyed being a band mother when her son James was in the band and she joined the Band Mothers, traveling with them to concerts including the Macy's 33rd Thanksgiving Day Parade. She loved the outdoors and working in her flower gardens. Various cats were the pets of the house. Shirley loved to read books, especially those about Maine, nature and different countries. She read many poems and wrote a few and also watched the daily news on television and read her daily paper.
She is predeceased by her husband James who died in Portland, Aug. 30, 1977; a daughter, Sharon Lowell McDermott who died in Boston, Mass., Dec. 22, 1967; a son James Edward Down of Springfield, Va., who died in Burke, Va., May 13, 2001; a sister, Eleanor Shanks died South Portland, Jan. 14, 1991; and a brother Russell Gibson Lowell who died Portland, Feb. 6, 2006. She is survived by a daughter Janice Eleanor Gower of Raymond; six grandchildren, Kevin Scott Gower of Leesburg, Va., Michael Dean Gower of Wells, Brenda Jean Gower of Raymond, Christopher Kevin McDermott of Westford, Mass., Deborah Ann (Down) Maydak of Joppa, Md., Brian Scott Down of Woodbridge, Va.; six great-grandchildren, Brandon Scott and Dillon Patrick Gower of Leesburg, Va., Zachary Ward Gower of Wells, Addison Baker McDermott of Westford, Mass., and Camden James and Tanner Noll Maydak of Joppa, Md.
Visiting hours will be 2-4, and 6-8 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 18, at Hobbs Funeral Home, 230 Cottage Road, South Portland. A memorial service will be held 10:30 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 19, at Prides' Corner Congregational Church, 235 Prides Street, Westbrook, with a committal service at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery, South Portland to follow.
Published in the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram from 10/17/2006 - 10/19/2006.
Shirley Keene (Lowell) Down, 95
WESTBROOK -- Shirley Keene Down died Sunday, Oct. 15, 2006, at the South Portland Nursing Home.
Shirley was born Aug. 2,1911, in South Portland, the daughter of Samuel and Maude (Keene) Lowell.
She married on Aug. 24, 1940, in South Portland, to James Stanley Down, the son of James Frederick and Katherine Denwood (Gibson) Down.
Shirley attended the South Portland schools Willard and Henley and graduated from the high school in the class of 1930. She studied piano and at a young age she and her cousin Madeline Lowell played duets at Grange functions and at church.
In high school she accompanied the girl's glee club for three years and was pianist for the orchestra her junior and senior years. After joining the choir of the People's Methodist Episcopal Church of South Portland she was asked to play the organ for church for two weeks and then a wedding and she was hooked. From then on her main love was the organ with the piano a close second. After moving to Pride's Corner in Westbrook in 1940, she joined the Pride's Corner Union Church, now the Pride's Corner Congregational Church, U.C.C. and sang in the choir, later becoming the choir director and organist for many years.
In the 1930s, she was a charter member of the Dressage Riding Club at Plantation Stables, Mitchell Rd., Cape Elizabeth. Later, she helped form a riding club at the Clinton Rines Walnut Crest Farm in Gorham where Mrs. Rines had baked beans waiting in the clubhouse after rides through the fields. She also joined the Girls' Business Club of the Y.W.C.A. on Free Street where she had many wonderful times. She enjoyed taking the snow train to Fryeburg where local groups met the train with sleighs. Many pleasant hours were spent walking along Willard Beach and dancing at the Inn.
Prior to her marriage, Shirley worked as a bookkeeper for Ray Libby's Garage Blue Bird Cabs on Forest Ave., Portland, later in Porteous, Mitchell & Braun, and then the Cumberland Power & Light Co.
She enjoyed being a band mother when her son James was in the band and she joined the Band Mothers, traveling with them to concerts including the Macy's 33rd Thanksgiving Day Parade. She loved the outdoors and working in her flower gardens. Various cats were the pets of the house. Shirley loved to read books, especially those about Maine, nature and different countries. She read many poems and wrote a few and also watched the daily news on television and read her daily paper.
She is predeceased by her husband James who died in Portland, Aug. 30, 1977; a daughter, Sharon Lowell McDermott who died in Boston, Mass., Dec. 22, 1967; a son James Edward Down of Springfield, Va., who died in Burke, Va., May 13, 2001; a sister, Eleanor Shanks died South Portland, Jan. 14, 1991; and a brother Russell Gibson Lowell who died Portland, Feb. 6, 2006. She is survived by a daughter Janice Eleanor Gower of Raymond; six grandchildren, Kevin Scott Gower of Leesburg, Va., Michael Dean Gower of Wells, Brenda Jean Gower of Raymond, Christopher Kevin McDermott of Westford, Mass., Deborah Ann (Down) Maydak of Joppa, Md., Brian Scott Down of Woodbridge, Va.; six great-grandchildren, Brandon Scott and Dillon Patrick Gower of Leesburg, Va., Zachary Ward Gower of Wells, Addison Baker McDermott of Westford, Mass., and Camden James and Tanner Noll Maydak of Joppa, Md.
Visiting hours will be 2-4, and 6-8 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 18, at Hobbs Funeral Home, 230 Cottage Road, South Portland. A memorial service will be held 10:30 a.m., Thursday, Oct. 19, at Prides' Corner Congregational Church, 235 Prides Street, Westbrook, with a committal service at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery, South Portland to follow.
Published in the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram from 10/17/2006 - 10/19/2006.
Inscription
DOWN
SHIRLEY L
AUG 2, 1911
OCT 15, 2006
Family Members
Spouse
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
