April 5, 1939 - May 8, 2023
The memorial service honoring the life of Linda Rhea Downs, 84, of Enid will be held on Saturday, June 10, 2023 at 2:00p.m. in the Brown-Cummings Chapel, with the Pastor Richard Stephens officiating. The service is under the direction of Brown-Cummings Funeral Home.
Linda was born in Altus, Oklahoma on April 5, 1939. She passed away on May 8, 2023. She attended Southwestern State College, where she was initiated into Delta Zeta Sorority, and graduated with a degree in elementary education in 1962. Linda taught at Peabody Elementary School in Littleton, Colorado and returned to Oklahoma to marry the love of her life, who she met while attending Southwestern State College. She married Ellis Raymond “Ray” Downs on August 12, 1962, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Linda and Ray lived in Weatherford, Oklahoma until Ray completed pharmacy school. While in Weatherford Linda and Ray had one daughter “Robin” on August 1, 1963. Linda, Ray, and Robin moved to Enid after Ray graduated from pharmacy school. Linda taught at Eisenhower Elementary school for one year, before she began assisting with the family- owned Downs Rexall Drug. She was known as the official “bookkeeper” or “CEO”. Linda was an active member of the community. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church. She served as a member of the Jr. Welfare League and was a key participant in the taste testing of recipes for the Stir-Ups cookbook. She was also a member of the PEO organization, Enid Main Street, and dedicated fund raiser for the March of Dimes. She was nominated for the March of Dimes; Women of Achievement for Community Service in 1994. She was a member of a local bridge club made up of dear friends for more than 20 years. She loved to cook and entertain. She and Ray participated in Dinner Clubs for over 30 years and creating four course menus was her specialty. If you ever needed a great recipe, you called Linda. She will always be remembered for her “Love that Red” lipstick, infectious laugh, and famous Bloody Marys. She was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, and friend. She will be missed by all that knew her and lives that were touched by her. Linda Rhea Downs was preceded in death by her father, Sir Robin Adair, and mother, Fern “Betty” Adair. She is survived by her husband of sixty-one years, Ray; her daughter Robin Downs Bridges and her husband Curtis, of Mooresville, North Carolina, sister, Marita Adair of San Antonio, Texas. She was most proud of her grandson, Parker Bridges and his wife, Briana and soon to be great granddaughter, of Port Charlotte, Florida.
Memorials may be made in lieu of flowers to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) or a charity of donor’s choice, with Brown-Cummings Funeral Home serving as custodian of the funds.
Obituaries are posted, in part, due to the generosity of The Commons.
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