Thomas John Downs, age 76, of Jordan.

Thomas John Downs having made “his peace with God”, left this earth on Saturday, February 8, 2025, at the age of 76, after a brief illness that complicated his long-term COPD.

Tom was born June 24, 1948, in Buffalo, New York, to Dennis and Ruth (Funk) Downs. He was their second and last child, a year behind his brother, Michael. Tom and Mike grew up in Clarence, New York, hunting, fishing, and canoeing. As teenagers, the two did everything together, including double dating and biking across New York State.

After attending St. Mary’s elementary in Swormville and graduating from Bishop Neumann High School in Amherst, NY, in 1966, Tom enrolled at St. John Fisher College in Rochester for a year. In 1967 he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, graduating from the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, completing A-School as a gunner’s mate in the spring of 1968, and heading to Sandia Base, Albuquerque, for technical training in nuclear weapons.

His first post was to Brunswick Naval Air Station (Maine) in the nuclear arsenal compound. With Vietnam pressing, Tom was transferred to the Pacific, joining the USS Oriskany for a complete 6 month tour in the South China Sea and the Gulf of Tonkin, plus partial tours either side. Tom was full of stories about his time on Oriskany: sailing straight through a typhoon taking green water over the 70 foot high flight deck, the occasional mishandled bomb in the weapons elevator, and eyewitness evidence that you actually could launch an F4 Phantom from an Essex-class aircraft carrier.

During his third tour with the ship, Tom was blinded in his right eye. That led to a medical discharge from the Navy in late spring of 1971. He visited his brother Mike and sister-in-law at Mike’s Army post in Delta Junction, Alaska, and attended Erie County Technical Institute (Buffalo, NY) for a two year associates degree in Recreation, then served as Athletics Director for a Catholic school for a year.

In 1974, Tom went to Colorado Springs, where Mike was stationed at Ft. Carson. Deciding that golf-course groundskeeper was not the life for him, Tom decided to pursue jobs in the electrical generation industry, taking a position at a coal-fired power plant in Craig, CO, where he worked, froze, hunted, fished, and golfed until 1985. His brother’s two sons, Steve (b. 1971) and Doug (b. 1974), quickly pegged Tom as the guy who had the biggest adventures and, after grandparents, gave the best Christmas presents. Everyone came to look forward to birthday cards from Tom, who had a knack for finding the funniest card on the rack. He also drove the neatest cars- vans, Subaru BRATs, and Mustangs.

In 1984, Tom’s parents retired to Deltona, Florida. In the spring of 1985, he began work in Operations at the Jacksonville Electric Association’s new Northside Generating Station. There he met Ed Adams, who became his lifelong best friend and fishing and golf partner. He continued to visit his brother and family in Montana, creating memorable backpacking and fishing trips in the Blackfoot Meadows west of Helena.

Tom worked at JEA until he retired in 2003 to take up golfing and fishing full time. He played as an amateur in a number of Pro/Am tournaments. After his dad’s death in 2004, Tom helped his mom care for her house and orange trees until her passing in 2010. He enjoyed summer and fall road trips up to Jordan, MT where Mike and Anne had retired. The road trips ended in 2014, when Tom was diagnosed with COPD, which required full-time oxygen and left him increasingly homebound. Tom’s pastimes became playing solitaire and pinochle and watching TV. The help of another close friend, MaryLee, allowed him to stay in his apartment independently for many years. Through those years, Mike and Anne visited Tom in Jacksonville 3-4 times a year.

By fall of 2023, Tom needed full-time live in care, so he left Florida to live with Mike and Anne in Jordan. His final year and a half was an improvement, full of Mike’s good cooking, and care that increased his comfort even as medical complications mounted. Being with his entire family again boosted his morale. Tom finished life as he started it, side by side with Mike.

Tom’s passage from this world was peaceful, following a day in Comfort Care at Intermountain Health Holy Rosary Hospital in Miles City, MT, with Mike and Anne at his bedside. The family is grateful to the doctors and nurses there for their advice and care.
Tom never married. He is survived by his brother Mike (Anne Bentley) Downs; his two nephews Stephen (Nicole Phipps) Downs and Douglas Downs; a great nephew Nathan (Summer Bickford) Downs; and a great niece Melissa Downs.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Tom’s name to the Garfield County Ambulance Service.
A graveside service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, February 17, 2025 at Pioneer Cemetery in Jordan. Following the short graveside service a potluck luncheon will be held at the Community Bible Church in Jordan.

Service Schedule

Graveside Service with Full Military Honors

11:00 a.m.

Monday February 17, 2025

Pioneer Cemetery

Jordan, Montana 59337

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