Charlotte Downing's Obituary
DOWNING, Charlotte Helene (Haynes), age 92, of Dayton, passed away Thursday, October 5, 2023 at Bethany Lutheran Village in Centerville. For the last 59 years of her life, she lived in Bellbrook and Washington Township.
Charlotte was born in Louisville, Kentucky on July 5, 1931, to Grace (Hampston) Haynes (1899 - 1976) and John Haynes (1896 - 1974).
Charlotte and her husband, Ben, raised two children and provided guidance and inspiration for their four grandchildren and most recently, one great granddaughter, Nora. Every Sunday, it became a tradition to have dinner at her son’s house. Well known by friends and family, Charlotte was an excellent cook and usually provided the main dish for the meal. Some of the family favorites were her pot roast, chicken curry, and corn beef and cabbage. It was also a tradition for Charlotte and her husband to travel back to Kentucky to visit family. She was known as the rock of the family and her legacy will last for generations to come.
Charlotte and Ben shared a love of Tennessee Walking Horses. For more than 30 years, they bred, raised, and trained horses and traveled throughout Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee participating in horse shows.
As a strong and independent young lady, she excelled at everything she did and was excellent at in the process. Charlotte was a trailblazer in the nursing community and was a participant in a decades-long longitudinal study on nurses’ health. She was actively involved with her Henry Ford Hospital nursing school classmates and attended numerous reunion events. Throughout her long career, she was dedicated to patient care and wellness. For the last two decades of her professional career, she was an ophthalmic surgical nurse who assisted in countless surgeries. Among many things, she will be remembered for how proud she was of her nursing career and above all else, her family.
She was preceded in death by her second husband of 60 years, Benny Downing (1929-2019), her first husband, William Isaac Browning, Jr. (1922-1957), parents, and sisters, Mary Natalie Haynes (1922 – 1934), Sally Jo Howell (1924 – 2020), and Patricia Ann Haynes (1927-1929). Charlotte is survived by her daughter, Sharon Courtney; son, Benjamin Downing (Rhonda Henley); four grandchildren, Robert Courtney (Aprill), Megan (Courtney) Lush (Mitchell), Kiana Downing, and Benjamin Riley Downing; and great granddaughter, Nora Lush.
Private services at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests you make a donation to the Nurses Health Study in Charlotte’s name: https://nurseshealthstudy.org/donations. Burial will be at Bellbrook Cemetery. Conner & Koch Celebration of Life Home is serving the family. Condolences at www.connerandkoch.com.
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