Margaret Webb Downs

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Margaret Webb Downs returned home to her loving Heavenly Father on the evening of Sunday, 14 April 2024 following a brief hospital stay due to complications related to illness and Hodgkins Lymphoma.

Margaret was born on 21 April 1949  in Logan, UT to Grant Laurence and Erma Bingham Webb. She was the 5th daughter out of a total of 8 children. She lived the first 7 years of her life in Smithfield and then moved to Logan. She attended Adams Elementary, Logan Jr. High, and Logan High School. During her time in school, she was involved in student council, concert band and marching band, Sponsors, Chauntaires, and many other musical endeavors. She graduated in 1967.

After high school, Margaret attended Utah State University for a short time. She worked at the Capitol Theater, cleaned dorms on campus, and was a pricer at Moore Business Forms. 

Margaret met her eternal companion, Dean Scott Downs, on a blind date, arranged by their friends. She vowed never to date a man who drove a truck, but that apparently didn’t matter when Dean showed up in his brand-new red pickup. They were married on 12 May 1972 in the Logan, UT temple. 

Dean and Margaret were blessed with four children: Heath Scott, Jared Dean, Matthew Ryan, and Amanda. They made their home in Logan. Margaret continued her work at Moore Business Forms until Heath was one year old. She then babysat neighborhood children until Amanda went to school. Amid the babysitting years, she also found time to demonstrate how to use microwave ovens for Thompson Electric and became quite adept at cooking different things in the microwave - a skill that she shared with others as she taught numerous community adult education classes. She could cook anything in a microwave! When Amanda started 1st grade, Margaret became a lunch lady at Wilson Elementary and worked for the next 25 years serving breakfast and lunch to thousands of children. She spent all but 2 years at Wilson Elementary, eventually becoming the lead cook. She was often described as the “nice lunch lady” and many children who went through her line have fond memories of her kindness. She loved hosting the teddy bears’ picnic, birthday table, and other simple celebrations that delighted the kids. She retired in 2018.

Margaret was a woman of many talents. She sang for 39 years with the Towne Singers, only retiring because her voice wore out. She performed in musicals with the Cache Community Theater and also served as their main costumer for many productions. In 1996, she was asked by a former classmate to sew for a few weeks in the costume shop with the Utah Festival Opera. She returned to sew the following year for the full opera season. A few years later she was hired to be the Costume Administrator. In the 17 years she spent at the Opera, she coordinated rentals for several shows, hired hundreds of people, fixed numerous lunches (which included her famous potato salad and orange fluff), and made many cherished friendships. For the last few years, she also enjoyed being a part of the DUP with her sister, Sharlene. At the time of her passing, she was serving as the historian/registrar. 

Of all the things that Margaret did in her life though, she found her greatest joy in taking care of her family and serving others. She enjoyed cooking delicious Sunday dinners. She will forever be remembered for her fried chicken, orange rolls, rhubarb pie, lemon pie, Christmas candy, and many other delicious foods. She was a quiet example of service and had more church callings than can be remembered. She was also a beautiful seamstress and had a hard time taking payment for making repairs, putting in a new hem or zipper, or creating something new upon request.

She is survived by her husband of nearly 52 years, Dean; four children: Heath (Sheila) Downs of Soda Springs, ID; Jared (Jennifer) Downs of College Station, TX; Matthew (Lauresa) Downs, of Hyrum, UT; and Amanda (Ryan) Cooley, of Logan, UT; 12 grandchildren; and 1 great-grandchild. She is also survived by her siblings: Sharlene (Clyde) Chatterton, Ann Friedli, Karla Shaw, Jeffry (Janet) Webb, Melanie (Nile) Leatham, and Robert (Diann) Webb. She was preceded in death by her father and mother, her oldest sister, Sandra, and three nieces and a nephew.

An evening viewing will be held on Wednesday, 24 April 2024 at the Logan South Stake Center, 350 West 700 South, Logan, Utah from 6-8 PM.  Funeral services will be held on Thursday, 25 April 2024, at 11:00 AM at Logan South Stake Center with a viewing prior from 9:00-10:30 AM. Interment will be in the Logan Cemetery. Funeral arrangements by Allen-Hall Mortuary.

The family wishes to thank the staff at Logan Regional Hospital, McKay-Dee Hospital, and Gossner Cancer Center for the compassionate service provided to Margaret.