Daughter of Lona Georgia & Julian Otto Downing of Benton, Illinois. Jeri Alberta Downing was born July 13, 1937. Raised in the Benton area she married her childhood sweetheart and the father of her two children, Charlotte Ortolani & Melody Ireland. She later divorced and she moved to Chicago, Illinois, where she met J.R. (Jim) Bergendahl. She and her two daughters moved to Dallas in November 1964 and she married Jim in 1966. Jim & Jeri moved to Winthrop Harbor, Illinois in 1972, then to Florida. She was widowed May 4, 1978. She moved back to Dallas where her two children resided. She went to work, became a realtor/broker. Several years later, she met Miles M. Alexander. They married in 1985, & remained so until Miles passed away December 2000. She then went to work at AAA Candle supply & became a master candle maker. She enjoyed her job & the people, so she remained there until she retired.
She loved cats and dogs & had many throughout her life. Jeri stayed busy. She crocheted, became an artist, made candles, & needlework. She loved music of all genre’s and fine things. She spent many a days chasing garage & estate sales. She loved family & came from a very large one.
Preceded in death by her mother & father, two husbands, Jim Bergendahl and Miles Alexander, daughter Melody Ireland, & brothers and sisters: Pansy Shaw, Willa Downing, Robert (Bob) Shaw, Jim Osborne, Bessie Geneace Osborne-Jimenez, Jessie (Muggs) Osborne, Paul Downing, Charles Downing, Caroline Downing-Webb, & Richard Downing.
She is survived by daughter, Charlotte Ortolani and husband John, sister, Patricia Quigley, & numerous nieces, nephews, and distant relatives.
