PORTLAND – We all could learn something from Eleanor Downes, a loving homemaker and artist who used her creativity to overcome hardships in life.
Mrs. Downes, who died Thursday at age 92, was the wife of the late John Downes Jr. and an active member of Christ Church in Portland.
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She was remembered by her family Thursday as a resourceful, creative and spiritual woman who had a positive outlook on life.
Marlene Tordoff of South Portland said she was a supportive and loving mother who managed even during tough financial times.
“Sometimes Dad would be out of work,” said Tordoff, the oldest of her four children. “I always marveled at how she put food on the table for the six of us when there was no money coming in.”
Mrs. Downes grew vegetables and canned her crop to sustain the family during the winter. “There might not have been meat on the table, but we had plenty of vegetables,” her daughter said.
Mrs. Downes made her children clothes by sewing and crocheting.
“I remember her taking coats apart, washing them and turning the fabric inside out to make a coat for us,” her daughter said. “She did a lot with dolls. She would take an old doll head and fix it up and make a new body. She was very creative.”
Mrs. Downes had a passion for art. She was mostly self-taught and worked in various media, such as acrylic and oil paints, charcoal, pencil and stencils.
“She always wanted to try something new. That was her thing,” her daughter said. “Maybe to prove to herself that she could do it.”
One of her proudest accomplishments was creating two large murals for two churches in Portland.
In 1972, she painted a 6-foot-by-8-foot mural of Jesus in Gethsemane for the Clark Memorial United Methodist Church on Pleasant Avenue. Ten years later, she produced a mural of Jesus’ crucifixion for Christ Church on Congress Street. The murals remain today.
“She really didn’t think she could do (the first mural) because it was too big, but she prayed about it,” her daughter said. “She felt the Lord led her to do that painting.”
When she was in her early 80s, Mrs. Downes began suffering from rheumatoid arthritis in her hands. Despite the pain, she continued making art, while living at The Cedars Skilled Care Center in Portland. There, she made birthday cards for the staff and her family.
Mrs. Downes had a strong relationship with her 10 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren, who spent Thursday sharing their memories of her on Facebook.
Her grandson Kevin Tordoff wrote that she was “gifted with incredible creativity, humility and a love of the Lord. … Her life brings a smile to my face.”
Her granddaughter Amy France said she feels blessed that her grandmother met her newborn daughter, Addie.
“I pray Addie could have a Godly, creative, family-filled life like her,” France wrote. “Hope you found a good place to hang your hat, Gram.”
Staff Writer Melanie Creamer can be contacted at 791-6361 or at:
mcreamer@pressherald.com
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