Mary Downes was born in 2 Mar 1922 to Wilfred Downes and Mary Shergold in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[1]
Family Life
Her father took a job with Hiram Walker Distillery in Walkerville, Windsor, Ontario, Canada and built a cottage on Lake St. Clair in Emeryville, Ontario, Canada where Mary grew up.
During WWII she was a volunteer in Detroit, Michigan handing out donuts to the soldiers. This is how she met Donald Leighr who wrote to her while stationed overseas in the Pacific. Upon returning Mary and Donald married in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and settled in an apartment in Chicago. Donald finished the interior of a house in Lombard, Ill and they moved there for several years and then in 1957 moved to a house in Schiller Park, Ill.
Children
Mary and Donald had two children together.
David Leighr
Carol Ann Leighr
Work experience
Mary worked as an executive secretary at various companies in Schiller Park, Ill. The last one she was recognized as Secretary of the Year in the State of Illinois. She was executive secretary for one of the Hallas family of the Chicago Bears, who was a scout for the team, and she made his travel arrangements.
Death
After retirement, Mary and Donald moved to Arkansas and did a lot of traveling. They were both avid golfers. Her health gave way and she spent the last couple years in a nursing home in Bryant, Arkansas, where she passed away on 1 Sept. 2010.