Joan Downey

Merna, NE – Joan M. Downey, age 75, died Saturday March 14, 2015 at her home in Dale Valley near Merna. Funeral services will be held on Saturday March 21, 2015 at 9:00 AM at St. Anselm’s Catholic Church in Anselmo, NE, with Father Jim Hunt officiating. A wake service will be held on Friday evening at 7 PM at St. Anselm’s Catholic Church in Anselmo. Visitation will be held on Friday from 8 AM to 3 PM at Govier Bros. Mortuary in Broken Bow, NE, and before the wake service at St. Anselm’s Catholic Church in Anselmo. Burial will be in the St. Andrew’s (Dale Valley) Catholic Cemetery near Merna. Memorials are suggested to St. Anselm’s Catholic Church or St. Andrew’s Catholic Cemetery. Joan Minnie (Willis) Downey was born on October 12, 1939 at Eddyville, NE to Harold “Tony” and Margaret (Klein) Willis. She attended Tuckerville Grade School, then the Maple Grove Grade School, and in 1957 graduated from Merna High School. Joan then attended nursing school at St. Francis School of Nursing in Grand Island, NE, and in 1960 received a registered nurse diploma. Joan and James R. “Jim” were married on September 17, 1960 at St. Paul’s Catholic Church in Merna. Survivors include her husband Jim Downey of Merna, sons: Michael (Jeanne) Downey of Benkelman, NE, Patrick (Donna) Downey of Merna, John Downey of Broken Bow, Robert (Brenda) Downey of Lincoln, NE, daughters: Michaela (A.D.) Hunt of Anselmo, Patricia (John) Rivera of North Platte, NE, Elizabeth (Joe) Minnick, Camas, WA, eighteen grandchildren, a brother Burton (Carol) Willis of Callaway, and sister-in-law Nancy Willis of Callaway. She was preceded by brother Harold “Junior” Willis and parents Tony and Margaret (Klein) Willis.