Mary C. Dowden

Mary graduated with honors from the University of Arizona, where she was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society. She also attended graduate school at Brown University. Mary was a pioneer being a young woman in the 1960’s studying in Archaeology. She worked many years as a mainframe computer programmer.

Mary was very active in her community. She served with dedication on the Inland Wetlands Commission. She also was an ardent historical preservationist until Parkinson’s disease made it too difficult for her.

She will be dearly missed by her twin sister Jerre Gray and her husband Erving of Virginia, her two nieces; Mary Beth Bruns and Amy Austen, their husbands, her great niece, and three great nephews. She was predeceased in death by her mother Doris Suessman.

Mary will be dearly missed by her family and friends who loved and cared for her.

A memorial service will be held at a later date with the burial of her ashes in the family plot in Center Cemetery, East Hartford. Newkirk & Whitney Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements