John S. Downing, 79

John S. Downing, 79, of Campton, passed away at Concord Hospital after an extended illness on Dec. 23, 2024. Born on March 23, 1945, in Plymouth to the late Alice Merrill and Chester Downing. John grew up in Thornton, the youngest of nine children: Eugene, Murial Prescott, Edward, Chester, Raymond, Lorita Goodwin, Guy, and Beverly Hall. He attended Thornton Central School and Lin-Wood High School. He played soccer and baseball and ran track. He was involved in the Thornton Grange where he met Anita Roy during a Virginia Reel at one of his aunt Nellie’s famous Grange dances. John enlisted in the U.S. Army and served six years. John and Anita married in 1967 and continued his military service in Schweinfurt, Germany, and then Huntsville, Alabama. John worked construction jobs including the building of Interstate 93 north of Campton. John and Anita built and moved to their home on Ellsworth Hill in Campton, in 1976, which became their beloved homestead, Rowe Hill Farm. Following a serious chainsaw injury at a job in Maine, he went to the NH Vocational Technical Institute in Berlin and earned an associate’s degree in machine tool processing. By this time, John and Anita had had their two children, Vicki and Pat. Family productions included maple sugaring, canning and freezing farm grown and raised vegetables, fruits, and meats, Labrador retrievers, Christmas trees, feed hay and firewood. Logging with his Belgian horses in the White Mountain National Forest was a proud accomplishment. John enjoyed working outside in his garden and fruit orchard and teaching his farming skills to his grandchildren, Beck, Robbie, and Jimmy Kelly. John is survived by his wife, Anita; his daughter, Vicki, her husband Karl Kelly and her children Beck Kelly and fiancé Peter Ntourntourekas and son, Rob Kelly; his son John Patrick, his wife Angelina and their children Michael Barnes and Alison Downing; John’s brother Guy Downing and wife Sally, brother-in-law Kenny Hall, sister-in-law Nancy Downing, and sister-in-law Celia Downing; cousins, many nieces and nephews; brother-in-law Bob Poor and his wife, Bonnie; and lifelong friend Richard Duffy and his wife Hilda.

The family will hold a graveside service in the spring of 2025 and kindly requests donations in John’s name to Shriner’s or St. Jude’s hospitals; the USO; Plymouth Regional High School Music Department (c/o Will Gunn); or a local family in need through your own town office.