Ronald William Downing

Ronald William Downing was born in Brooklyn, NY on July 29, 1961 to Marilyn and Ken Downing who already had Kenny, 4 and Sue, 2. Six years later Paul came along and then 3 years later, Eugene, making Ron the middle one of five. After several apartments the family bought a house in Jamaica, Queens. Ron attended Hillcrest High School and went on to Pepperdine University where he majored in Computer Science and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1983. From there he moved to Austin, attending the University of Texas and working for Boeing and Texas Instruments. He was recruited by Swissair in 1990 and worked for them in Zurich for over 3 years. Then he was with Union Bank of Switzerland until 1997 when he came back to the USA and was a computer programmer in Austin. He was briefly married in 1990. He quit his job in 2000 and came to Queens to be an usher in his brother Paul's wedding. He stayed in New York for an extended visit, finally returning to Texas where he bought a condo, worked in taverns and eventually bought part ownership of BB Rovers Café & Pub. He had many friends and enjoyed his work which included taking care of the books. He died December 8, 2008 and will be missed by family and many friends. A memorial service will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 13, 2008 at BB Rovers Café and Pub, 12636 Research Blvd.., Austin, followed by a Wake service at 10:00 p.m. at Maggie Mae's, 512 Trinity Street, Austin.