Obituary Overview
Irene Downes
Peacefully, surrounded by family, Irene died on October 26, 2018.
She was predeceased by parents Thomas Herbert Cousins and Amy Cousins and husbands Jesse Robert William (Bill) Hammond, George Downes and partner Paul Reeves Bergman.
Left to cherish her memory are her brother Thomas Arthur Cousins, and her children Gregory (Heather) Hammond, Susie Hammond, Mary Jane Hammond (Dave Rencz), Dianne (Don) Robertson and step-daughter Heather (John) Jeffery, grandchildren Allan (Elizabeth) and TJ (Claire Duncan) Hammond, Jesse and Dia Roth, Cameron (Katie) Barnes, Dylan Robertson, Anne (Todd Stastook) and John Jeffery, and great grandchildren William and Emma Hammond, and Makayla Jeffery-Skakun and Elizabeth Jeffery-Stastook.
Irene was born in Winnipeg on January 30, 1924. She met Bill while working at Imperial Oil. They lived in Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Brandon, Toronto and Halifax. The family returned to Winnipeg after Bill developed cancer. He soon died and at the age of 33 she was left with four young children. Six years later, she married widower George Downes, and moved with five children to Montreal. After George died, she moved back to Winnipeg and later lived with widower Paul Bergman. He had been Bill’s pilot in WWII, with Bill as the navigator.
Irene was a very energetic and strong woman who overcame substantial adversity to provide for her family and later to live with breast cancer. She was very resourceful and loved a bargain. She especially enjoyed summers at Baubee Lake. In her later years, she travelled widely, including to Lima, Peru at age 92 by herself to visit Paul’s son Mark, wife Patty and family. Irene was a very talented hostess and cook, knitter and embroiderer. She enjoyed bridge, fishing, curling and baseball.
Family members extend their thanks for her care to nursing staff; Drs. Buchel, Albak, Pitz, Ogarenko, and Cooke; Grace Hospital Oncology; Palliative Care, especially Trish and volunteer Lauren; and the MAID team.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations in her memory to the Grace Hospital Foundation, 300 Booth Dr., Winnipeg MB R3J 3M7, or Palliative Manitoba, 2109 Portage Ave., Winnipeg MB, R3J 0L3.
Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Irene Downes 2018..
Décès pour la Ville: Winnipeg, Province: Manitoba
