MILFORD - Eleanor M. "Nora" Downes (nee Exley) passed away peacefully on March 2, 2020.
Born in Boxiron, Maryland, near Girdletree, Nora moved to Milford as a child. For thirty years, she worked at Caulk Dentsply, where she managed the stock room. Nora was an excellent southern-style cook whose chicken and dumplings and pumpkin pies were world-class. She never shied from hard work and, with her husband, proudly purchased their first home, which they maintained together for many years. While she enjoyed traveling, she could usually be found holding court from her living room, where she welcomed family and visitors with delight and much laughter. She was a cut-up, a spark plug. Her laugh, her joy and effervescence, will be missed.
Nora was preceded in death by her father, Olympic rower, John Onins Exley, Jr.; her mother, Lola M. (nee Watson); siblings, John, Lola Marie Byrd, Sarah Hearne, Walter, George, James Juvenal, William, Charles, and Roscoe; and a granddaughter, Leah Downes.
She was married for sixty-eight years to Roland M. Downes, who passed away in 2016, and is survived by their three children, Judy Knutstad, Constance Wood, and David Downes (Cora); three grandchildren, Thor (Lisa), Tove, and Cody (Julie); five great-grandchildren, Jordan, Bryn, Jadon, Elijah, and Briar; a sister, Elizabeth Hodge, 99, of Dallas, Texas; and three sisters-in-law, Joan Exley, Sonja Exley, and Lena Downes.
Services will be private.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation (tunnel2towers.org).
Arrangements in the care of Berry-Short Funeral Home, Milford.