Avid knitter and great fan of grandchildren’s sporting activities
Published December 30, 2019
READING — Susan D. Downey, 79, of Reading and a former resident of Wakefield died Friday, December 27, 2019 in Wakefield. Born on February 21, 1940 she was the daughter of the late Donald Parr and Gertrude (Dwyer) Searle.
She was raised in Reading and was a graduate of Reading High School, Class of 1957 and later graduated from the Katharine Gibbs School of Boston, Class of 1959. She was a member of the Wakefield Garden Club and Saint Joseph Church of Wakefield. Susan worked at various jobs throughout her life; first as a loan officer at Reading Savings Bank and later for Textron in Wilmington for 10 years. Following that, she worked in the Human Resource Department at Vaisala in Woburn. She was also an avid knitter and was a great fan of all of her grandchildren’s sporting activities. Above all, Susan loved spending time with her family.
Mrs. Downey was the wife of the late Gerald F. Downey. She was the loving mother of Leslie E. (Sweetland) Ingalls and her husband Keith of Wakefield and Loralee (Sweetland) Shinnick and her husband Edward of Lynn. She was the devoted grandmother of Christopher, Amanda and Jonathan Ingalls and Colleen, Kimberly and Meghan Shinnick.
Her funeral will be held from the McDonald Funeral Home, 19 Yale Avenue, Wakefield on Friday, January 3 at 9 a.m. followed by a funeral Mass in St. Joseph Church, 173 Albion St., Wakefield at 10 a.m. Interment will be at Charles Lawn Cemetery in Reading. Visitation for relatives and friends will be held at the funeral home on Thursday from 4-8 p.m.
