Joanne Lee (Stewart) Downs was born in Centralia, Washington on Jan. 21, 1946. She grew up in Centralia and Rochester, Washington, and briefly lived in North Dakota near Webster where her mother taught all eight grades in a one-room schoolhouse while her father recovered from injuries sustained in a car accident.
In North Dakota, Joanne enjoyed time spent with grandparents, aunts, uncles and especially her cousins on the wheat fields of the family homestead before moving back to Rochester in the fifth grade. She loved roller skating, swimming with friends, and attended St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Rochester. Even as a child, she was driven to work and spent many summers picking blueberries at Drew’s to earn money for school clothes. As a teen, she loved cheerleading for the Rochester Warriors and working at the drive-in concession stand. Joanne graduated from Rochester High School in 1964 and attended Centralia College.
In 1965, Joanne began working for the Secretary of State of Washington. In 1967, she married her high school sweetheart, Roger, and moved to Everett, Washington where Roger was stationed at Paine Field in the U.S. Air Force. While her husband served for a year in Thailand, Joanne moved back to Rochester with her parents and returned to her job with the Secretary of State. From 1969 to 1971, the young couple lived in Cheyenne, Wyoming where Joanne worked for the Secretary of State of Wyoming and Roger completed his military service. They moved back home to Olympia in 1971 where Joanne worked as Olympia Fire Department’s first secretary. They started a family in 1975 and in 1979 moved to Littlerock, Washington. In 1980, Joanne and Roger began the family nursery, Downs’ Rhododendrons, at their home where they have grown and sold plants together for over 40 years.
Joanne was a proud mother of two children and a wonderful grandmother to three grandchildren. “Here’s a kiss for your pocket.” In addition to growing plants and caring for her children, she was exceptionally creative and loved sewing, quilting, woodworking and making furniture. She also loved time with her dogs and taking them outside to play while she enjoyed a cup of coffee.
Joanne passed away on Aug.19, 2022. She is survived by her husband Roger Downs of 55 years, her two children Rocky Downs and Jodi Downs (Danny) Chen, and three grandchildren, Roxy, Leah and Zoey Chen. She was preceded in death by her parents Earl and Hallie (Briggs) Stewart and sister Twylla “Tickie” Stewart.
At noon on Oct. 7, 2022, her family will host a memorial at Swede Hall in Rochester to honor and celebrate her life well-lived.
