Thomas Downs Obituary

Thomas Robert Downs

July 9, 1940 - October 1, 2021

Helena lost a beloved husband, incredible father, doting grandfather, loyal brother, playful uncle, dear friend, proud Irishman, and ardent golfer. Thomas Robert Downs died peacefully in his home with his family nearby on October 1, 2021, at the age of 81, after a battle with Hodgkin's lymphoma and related complications.

Tom was born to Harry and Caroline Downs, the third of five children, on July 9, 1940, in Helena.

This darling curly-haired Irish boy spent a happy and carefree childhood playing in the neighborhood streets of Helena, selling newspapers for a dime in establishments on Last Chance Gulch, and attending St. Helena Grade School.

A Greenie through and through, Tom played football and basketball at Cathedral High School, where he graduated in 1958. Tom loved his classmates and maintained a lifelong friendship with many of them.

Tom lauded his seven summers with the U.S. Forest Service fighting fires with a Pulaski in hand, Copenhagen in his lip, sun and stars overhead, and his brother John by his side. He often recalled that job with John as the best of his career.

After graduating from Carroll College in 1962 with degrees in English and Spanish, he taught at Anaconda Central High School and eventually went to graduate school at the University of Montana to study English.

In 1966 he was drafted by the U.S. Army, and served in Germany during the Vietnam War era. He was honorably discharged from the military in 1968 and came home to Montana where he worked at the Job Corps in Ronan and Anaconda.

In 1972 he returned to Helena and accepted a position within the Social Security Disability Determination Bureau, a career that would span nearly three decades. Then during the 1973 Carroll College Homecoming weekend, he met a local Irish lass named Jeannie Harrington. Tom was smitten. He charmed and courted Jeannie, and in time they married at the Cathedral of St. Helena on June 21, 1975. In June of 1976, they purchased their first home, where they would reside for the next 45 years, and raise their two sons Michael and Kevin. A shamrock with "Céad Míle Fáilte" graced the wooden front door as this blessed home took root - safe, grace-filled, and warm, especially during the last months of Tom's life.

One of Tom's greatest passions was golf. With his eclectic collection of left-handed clubs (not an iron in the bag!), he tallied five holes-in-one, including at least one on each of Helena's golf courses. But his greatest strokes on the golf course were the witty remarks he shared to light up the morning silence with the laughter of his cronies that spanned three generations.

His sons' alma maters were the teams for which he most fervently cheered: the Carroll College Fighting Saints, the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and the Gonzaga University Bulldogs.

Though he lived very simply, his few possessions brought him joy and were well-kept - "waste not, want not," he would say. He also took pride in his handyman work at home and in the yard. Though a self-described homebody, he was fond of travel, especially family road trips through the West and international trips to Japan, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Honduras, and Italy.

His witty one-liners worked around the world, grounded in humor everyone could relate to. He welcomed everyone into his circle of laughter, and his humor was never at the expense of others. Nothing delighted him more than the pause after his uttering of a one-liner - that anticipation of an ensuing belly laugh.

He was a lover of the land of Montana, none more precious to him than the ten acres near Elliston he owned with his brothers, upon which they built a simple cabin to host family picnics, poker parties, and quiet escapes.

A voracious reader of many genres, Tom loved spy novels and biographies, but perhaps his favorite reading was living out his fantasies of being a cowboy through the pages of Louis L'Amour.

Over the past year, Tom and Jeannie were blessed with the never-ending love, care, and visits from so many, including neighbors, dear friends, golf buddies, the extended Downs and Harrington families, and their CFM community. These people were the caddies and the gallery on Tom's final fairway.

He is survived by his wife Jeannie, his sons and their families, Michael (Isaiah and Clara) and Kevin Downs and Marly Ellis (Rowan, River, and a son due in early November); brother Harry and sister-in-law Liz, sisters Carol Smith and Diane Murray, and sister (-in-law) Barbara; four Harrington siblings-in-law and their spouses, Patty (Jim) Screnar, J. Cort (Fong) Harrington, Kim (Kevin) Kelley, Joe (Margaret) Harrington; 35 nieces and nephews, and countless grandnieces and grandnephews who all adored their Uncle Tommy.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Harry and Caroline, his beloved brother and best friend John, and brothers-in-law Tom Smith and Mike Murray.

A vigil will take place Monday, October 11 at 6:00pm at the Anderson Wilke Funeral Home. A funeral Mass will be held at St. Helena Cathedral on Tuesday, October 12 at noon. There will be a committal at Resurrection Cemetery with military honors, and a reception to follow at the Great Northern Hotel. All are welcome, and masks and social distancing are encouraged.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Helena Foodshare or the Prickly Pear Land Trust. Tom was a very gracious and grateful man. His final words to Jeannie, but really to all of us, were, "It's okay. It's okay. Thank you."