Garry J. Downey

Garry J. Downey, 63, of Brewerton, passed away April 7, 2024. Garry was born in Kalamazoo, MI on February 18, 1961 and was the son of Marvin and Bernadine Downey. He retired from Watertown City School District as a teacher after 30 years. Garry was predeceased by his mother, father and his brother, Brian Downey.

Garry graduated from Portage Northern High School where he played varsity football. He went on to Grand Valley State University where he rowed on the crew team. He received his Bachelor's degree in elementary education and Master's degree in history and secondary education from Western Michigan University. Garry always worked with children and those in need. He worked for the Croyden Avenue School for Special Needs, and was a group home counselor in Rochester, NY. Over the summers for many years, he worked as a camp counselor at Kenmont Camp in Connecticut. He kept going back to work there and even sent his own children to camp over the summers.
Garry started teaching for Watertown City School District as a 6th grade teacher at Wiley. After a little detour where he nearly became a Franciscan Friar, he returned to Watertown as a 7th and 8th grade social studies teacher until retirement. As a teacher, Mr. Downey liked to show off his tacky tie Christmas tree, and bring in veterans from the World Wars to speak to his students. He loved to plan field trips for his students and get involved in community projects.

In his recent retirement, he started volunteering for the Food Bank in Brewerton and making sandwiches for the homeless. Garry also enjoyed being an usher at the Syracuse Dome. He loved that he could watch all the games. He would spend a lot of his free time at Oneida Shores, enjoying nature. He loved nature, especially the water.

He married his best friend on April 9, 1994. They enjoyed going to the Adirondacks and Kingston together. They always loved to go for walks, and share good books and good food. The Kingston Brew Pub was his happy place. They also enjoyed watching the shenanigans of the wildlife in their backyard pond and spoiling their dogs, Goldie and Riley. They spent 30 years together.

As a dad, he attended all of his five children's games, recitals, and events. He was always there for them, loved them, and was proud of the people they grew up to be. He loved cooking for the family. Some of the food may have had a lot more spinach than they wanted, but the eggs were excellent.
His greatest joy, though, was being with his grandchildren. He loved toasting marshmallows, playing games, setting up egg hunts, and decorating cookies. He was an expert at manning the apple peeler for Apple Crisp Day. He even played Twister with them! He loved taking them to festivals and just hanging out.

He is survived by his wife, Stephanie Downey, and his children, James Croft (Erica), Anna Croft, Megan Wight (Chris), Sarah Crossway (Justin), and Cecelia Downey. He was the lucky grandpa to eight grandchildren: Leah, Hailie, Elias, Isabella, Emily, Matthew, Reagan, and Addison. He is also survived by his brothers, Larry and Mark, and several aunts, uncles, nieces & nephews. He will be missed.

Visitation will be held on Friday from 4-7pm at New Comer Cremations & Funerals, 705 N. Main St., N. Syracuse. A funeral mass will be held on Saturday, 10:30am, at Our Lady of Peace Cemetery Chapel in the Town of Clay.

If you would like to make a donation in Garry's name, please donate to the CNY Food Bank in Brewerton

To share a memory of Garry or leave a special message for his family, please visit the guestbook below.