Obituaries Oct. 24

A funeral service is 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Gall Catholic Church for Gardnerville businessman and Republican Central Committee member Joseph William Denton, 49, who died Oct. 20, 2008.

Born Sept. 27, 1959, in San Gabriel, Calif., to William and Mary Ellen Denton, he moved to Carson Valley from South Lake Tahoe 13 years ago.

Mr. Denton was a certified general real estate appraiser who owned and operated Allied Appraisers. He was a member of the Kiwanis Club in Gardnerville and South Lake Tahoe, member of the Toastmasters, also a member of the Douglas County Republican Central Committee, and he was the Exalted Ruler of the Minden-Douglas Elks Lodge.

His passion was fly fishing, teaching the skill to cancer patients during the "Reel Kids Real Recovery" event. A snow and water skier, Mr. Denton taught blind skiers at Kirkwood. He also enjoyed scuba diving, surfing and hunting.

He married wife Linda on Sept. 16, 1995 at Heavenly Valley's "Top of the Tram."

He was preceded in death by his parents, and a sister, Karen Denton.

Mr. Denton is survived by his wife, Linda of Gardnerville; twin sons Maxwell William and Jacob Enrico, both of Gardnerville; step-daughter Ashley Bolinger of South Lake Tahoe; nieces Shauna Harmon and Stephanie Sowles both from Gardnerville and Sara Malin of Coeur D'Alene, Idaho.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made in his memory to the "Reel Kids Real Recovery" event at the Keaton Raphael Memorial, 980 Sandhill Road, Suite 200, Reno, NV 89521, phone 327-6275. Burial will be at Mottsville Cemetery.

Walton's Douglas County Mortuary has been entrusted with Mr. Denton's final arrangements.

Johnson Lane pioneer Mary Dorothy Coone Downs died Friday, Oct. 10, 2008, in Carson City. She was 87 years old.

Born Dec. 25, 1920, in Cheyenne, Wyo., after her older sister Loren ordered her out of a Sears Roebuck catalog, Mrs. Downs was raised by her grandmother, Mary Keep Lewis, in a boarding house in Edmond, Okla.

She met her husband, Walter Downs, when they were babies, but lost track of each other during their childhood. After graduating from Normal School in Edmond, Okla., she was accepted for admission to the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music for vocal studies but chose to attend college in Edmond.

Mary and Walter reconnected in Blythe, Calif., where she went to work at Maltby's Cafe, which was owned by members of Walter's family. The couple were wed in 1941 in Quartzsite, Ariz., and married for 54 years before Mr. Downs' death in 1996.

While her husband was shipped to Europe during World War II, Mrs. Downs trained to be a "Rosy the Riveter," in Los Angeles.

During the war she mourned the loss of her beloved brother, John Coone, who was shot down in 1945 in a B-29 over Japan.

In 1955, the Downs family moved to Douglas County where they became one of the first families to homestead in the Johnson Lane area, where a street still bears their name. Mrs. Downs helped build their house and cultivate the land on the 160 acres while pregnant with her youngest child.

From 1962 to 1982 she was an audit clerk for the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles.

Mrs. Downs loved to sing and was a true fan of jazz. She was often humming Ella Fitzgerald songs and danced with Walt to Benny Goodman's "Moonlight Serenade" at their 50th wedding anniversary.

She is survived by her son John Downs and his wife Karen Palmer of Henderson; daughter Denise Breese of Houston, Texas; son Scott Downs and his wife Brenda Downs of Minden; her grandchildren Megan Downs of Merritt Island, Fla., and Brianne Berry and her husband Evan Berry of Reno; extended family members Wayne and Martha Brown, Lynn, Nikki, and Rachel Zacharias, Stacey, Pat, Dillon, and Hannah McKinnish, all of Gardnerville; and Linda Henson Coleman and the Henson family of Sacramento.

At this time no services are planned. Donations may be made to the Carson Valley Community Food Closet, P.O. Box 2911, 1255 Waterloo Lane, Gardnerville, NV 89410.