Mrs. Gloria Downey

We'll be alive again in a thousand blades of grass, and a million leaves; we'll be falling in the raindrops and blowing in the fresh breeze; we'll be glittering in the dew under the stars and the moon out there in the physical world, which is our true home and always was.” Phillip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass Gloria D.S. Downey, age “39,” passed away peacefully on Wednesday, March 27, 2019, at the Fairfax Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Fairfax, VA. She was born July 30, 1922 in Tampa, FL to Adolfo and María (Sánchez) Díaz Silveira. She grew up in Key West, Florida, where Gloria met and married the love of her life, the late Vice Admiral Denis-James J. Downey, Sr., in 1948. She devoted herself to her beloved husband and later, to her cherished son, Denis. She excelled in the kitchen and absolutely loved to cook, hosting countless dinner parties and soirees in support of her husband and his fellow military servicemen and women. Gloria is survived by her son Denis-James J. Downey, Jr., grandson Mark Daniel Snyder, niece Michele Maria Morland Shaul and her husband Roger Louis Shaul, Jr., and their children Lisa Marie Shaul Thompson, John Benjamin Shaul, and Robert Louis Shaul. Our gratitude and love to the extended LaMonica family for your continual love and support over the many years. She loved you all very much. Gloria Downey had a nice life and made a difference to her family, her friends and beyond. She will be sorely missed. Mass will be said on Tuesday, June 11, 2019 at 3 pm at St. John’s Catholic Church located at 6420 Linway Terrace, McLean, Va. 22101. Funeral service and burial will be held at Arlington National Cemetery on June 12, 2019 at 11 a.m. Arlington requests that attendees be at the Administration Building no earlier than 10 a.m. and not later than 10:15 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Wounded Warrior Project. Ascension By Colleen Corah Hitchcock And if I go, while you’re still here… Know that I live on, vibrating to a different measure behind a thin wall that you cannot see through. You will not see me, so you must have faith. I wait for the time when we can soar together again both aware of each other. Until then, live your life to its fullest, And when you need me, Just whisper my name in your heart …I will be there.