Ruth Delores Downing

Ruth Downing, 88, passed away on October 12, 2022 in Kilgore, Texas. Ruth was born January 3, 1933 in Healdton, Oklahoma. She moved with her family in 1936 and has spent most all her life in Gladewater and the East Texas area.

Ruth attended Broadway Elementary School and Gladewater High School graduating with the class of 1951. She was a homemaker and member of Memorial Baptist Church in Gladewater, Texas. After her husband’s retirement from GTE together they started a business in the Union Grove Community, Easy Living Homes, building moveable and affordable homes. After full retirement she and her husband moved to Kilgore to be near their children.

Ruth is survived by her beloved husband Lee Downing of Kilgore, Texas; daughter, Josie Atchley and husband Gary of Kilgore, Texas; son, Danny Downing and wife Marion of Kilgore, Texas; 7 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; several nieces and nephews; sister-in-laws, Barbara Kennedy and Madelyn Kennedy, both of Gladewater, Texas.

Ruth was preceded in death by her parents Luther and Ora D Kennedy; son, Michael Ray Downing of Gladewater, Texas; brothers, Floyd Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Ralph Kennedy, and Sherman Kennedy; sisters, Oretha Hyden and Luvena Thompson, all of Gladewater, Texas as well as one sibling lost during birth.

Special thanks to the caregivers and doctors at HeartsWay Hospice that took such loving care of Ruth. Also, a thanks to her sweet grandchildren and great-grandchildren that helped care for their grandmother with such tenderness in her last days.

Memorials may be made to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Texas or HeartsWay Hospice in Longview, Texas. A visitation will be held in the chapel at Croley Funeral Home in Gladewater, Texas from 6 to 8 in the evening on Friday October 14, 2022. A graveside service will be Saturday October 15, 2022 at Gladewater Memorial Park at 10 o’clock in the morning.