Cecelia “Ceil” Leonora (Kakowski) Downey

Cecelia “Ceil” Leonora (Kakowski) Downey, age 99, passed away peacefully at her home in Framingham, MA, on April 3rd, 2024.

The daughter of William and Mary Ann (Ramutkowski) Kakowski, Ceil grew up on River Street in Thomaston, CT, and graduated from Thomaston High School in 1942; she completed a secretarial degree at Post Junior College. Despite the hardships of the Depression and World War II, Ceil had fond memories of her childhood, many of which centered around the musicianship of her family; Ceil’s father led a popular polka band in which her brother Ed played clarinet and saxophone, and she and her sisters went dancing every Saturday night at the dance hall on Chapel Street.

Named for St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music, Ceil was a gifted lyric soprano and studied voice at the Juilliard School of Music. She was the soloist at the First Congregational Church in Watertown under the direction of her teachers, George Morgan and Nora Fauchald Morgan and also sang with various choral groups and orchestras – she was a stunner, with her thick chestnut hair, bright lipstick and sophisticated evening gowns.

In the 1950s, Ceil was the definition of a modern woman and became an executive secretary to Tadeusz and Michael Sendzimir of Precision Methods and Machines; she had a career, a brand new 1955 grey and white Buick Special with a red interior, a cottage on Candlewood Lake, and a stock portfolio. But then, at age 33 she met the love of her life, Ed Downey, and she married him. They bought a home in Wolcott, CT, Ed began his career as a food broker with Morris Alper and Sons, and Ceil became a homemaker; they relocated to Framingham, MA in 1973. They spent 63 years together and raised 4 children.

Each one of Ceil’s children remember her as their number one fan. People found her to be an especially kind, empathic person, unless someone wronged one of her kids, in which case her wrath was swift and brutal; she once pulled her daughters out of Catholic School because a nun wouldn’t allow them to color. She was deeply satisfied by the beauty of the quotidian, stopping to marvel at a blue sky, or the color of a bird. She was a skilled cook and baker, and was ahead of her time in understanding the importance of fresh fruit and vegetables and regular exercise. She was a devout Catholic, had a well-developed creative sense, was an accomplished knitter, and was a mindfulness practitioner before it was called that. In retirement, Ceil and Ed enjoyed the sun, walked the beach and fed the pelicans in Naples, FL.

Ceil was blessed with good health and a strong constitution, and she counted those blessings everyday. She passed along her capacity for gratitude to her children, who, in turn, are deeply thankful that they were raised by such a remarkable woman.

Ceil is survived by her two daughters, Anne Downey and her husband, Bob McKenna of Eliot, ME, and Nancy Downey and her husband Jim Kavanagh of Belgrade Lakes, ME; two sons, Paul Downey of Hopkinton, MA, and David Downey of Jamaica Plain, MA; and two grandchildren, Maren and Caroline McKenna of Eliot, ME, as well as several nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her sister, Helena Towne of Thomaston, CT. She was predeceased by her husband, Ed Downey of Framingham, MA; her two brothers and their wives, Edmund and Mary (Rice) of Watertown, CT and Robert and Mary (Pace) of Torrington, CT, and two sisters, Mary Ann Frank of Winnipeg, Canada, and Frances Dilger and her husband, Freddie of Thomaston, CT, as well as her brother-in-law, Robert Towne of Thomaston, CT.

Funeral services, a Mass of Christian burial and interment were private and held at St. Bridget Parish and Edgell Grove Cemetery in Framingham and were entrusted to the care of Norton Funeral Home, Framingham, MA.

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