Jan Theresa Hunt Downs

Services for Jan Theresa Hunt Downs, 77, who died Monday, October 21, 2013, at home, will be at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, October 26, 2013, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Rockledge, with Father Luis Osorio officiating.

Burial will follow at Florida Memorial Gardens under the direction of Wylie-Baxley Funeral Home.

Visitation will be from 9:30 a.m. until service time Saturday at the church.

Jan was born December 9, 1935, in Hickory, North Carolina, the third and youngest child of Bruce Earl Hunt and Neva Irene Eckard Hunt. She spent her early years in Hickory before moving to central Florida where she graduated from Boone High School and attended Rollins College. In 1955 she married her husband of fifty-eight years, Richard Edward Downs, whom she met while working one summer at Jones Beach, Long Island, New York.

Jan worked more than 12 years as a much loved and well respected substitute teacher in Cocoa, Florida. Her warm spirit and kind heart touched the lives of hundreds of students, many of whom have kept in contact with her over the last 30 years. She never met a stranger and her house was constantly filled with friends she considered extended family. She was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Rockledge, as well as the Seekers’ Sunday School Class at First Baptist Church of Cocoa, where she worked several years as financial secretary.

She was a gifted crafter, spending endless hours arranging flowers, sewing, quilting, scrapbooking, and cross-stitching. She ran a catering business for several years and continued that passion at every holiday or family event, delighting those in attendance with mouth-watering delicacies. She happily shared her love of baking with her grandchildren at every opportunity.

Jan leaves a lasting memory with family, friends, and the community, and will forever be a shining ray of light to anyone who was fortunate enough to have known her.

Jan was preceded in death by her parents, her son Patrick, her grandson Ryan, and her stepmother, Margaret Stephens Hunt. She is survived by her husband; 5 children, Teri Tillman and husband, Barry, of Natchez, Miss., Michael Downs of Mobile, Ala., Michelle Taylor of Leesburg, Douglas Downs and wife, Valerie, of Brooklyn, Conn., Robbi Bocinsky and husband, Mark, of Melbourne; a brother, Jim Hunt, and wife, Dae, of Taylorsville, N.C.; two sisters, Peggy Phillips, of Orlando, and Robin Hefner and husband, Keith, of Hickory, N.C.; 11 grandchildren, Amanda Tillman Shea, Benjamin F. Tillman, Christina Downs Fletcher Walters, Lauren Taylor, Samuel Taylor, Taylor Downs, Garrett Downs, Mark E. Bocinsky, Nicholas Bocinsky, Sean Bocinsky, and Meghan Bocinsky; 5 great-grandchildren, Liam Shea, Connor Shea, Emma Tillman, Ashley Fletcher, and Allen Walters; and numerous nephews, nieces, and cousins.

Condolences may be shared at www.wyliebaxleymerrittisland.com.