Gerald R. Downen

     Gerald "Jerry" Downen, 81, of Rockford, IL passed away on Monday, February 9, 2026 at OSF St. Joseph in Bloomington, IL. He was born on August 12, 1944 at Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, Indiana. He lived several places in Indiana and Illinois before enlisting in the United States Marine Corps in June of 1962, two months before his 18th birthday. During his enlistment, he served at a half dozen duty stations scattered throughout California, Texas, North Carolina, and The Republic of South Vietnam. He was released from active duty in September of 1966 with the rank of Corporal. Jerry was very proud of his service in the Marine corps and in later life tracked down over a hundred Marines he served with at various duty stations, including Vietnam. He also planned and organized a 48 year reunion of his boot camp platoon at MCRD San Diego in September of 2010. The reunion was attended by 23 platoon members and both living Drill Instructors.

     Jerry went to work for National Cash Register (NCR) in October of 1966 as a Technical Services Representative Apprentice. He was trained on computers at the company’s school in Dayton, Ohio. He left them in 1978 as a Tech. Rep. after 10 ½ years of service and went to work for Amdahl Corp. as a Field Engineer, repairing and maintaining large computer mainframes. After leaving Amdahl in 1986 as a Senior Field Engineer, he worked at several jobs before retiring in 2006.

     He is preceded in death by his father Carlos Downen, mother Ella Fern (Stokes) Downen, and brother Warren “Bubby” Downen.

     He is survived by his children, Jennifer Lynn of Mesa, AZ and Jason Downen of Paris, TN; grandchildren, Alexandria Mohr of Bloomington, IL, Dakota Burgess of Bloomington, IL, and Jayden Downen who is currently in the United States Army. Also left behind are longtime companion Linnea Hart of Belvidere, IL; close long time friends, John Schoeppach of Rockford, IL, and Tom Arvoy of The Villages, FL.

     His children, grandchildren and great grandchildren were loved so deeply and were so important to him; he could find no way to express it.

     He loved music and often wished he could sing well enough that people wanted him to.

     Graveside military honors and burial will be held at 2:30 p.m., on Friday, February 13, 2026 in Plainview Cemetery near Norris City with full honors by the Carmi American Legion, Carmi VFW and the United States Marine Corp honor guards. A time of visitation will be held on Friday, February 13, 2026 from 1:00 p.m. till 2:00 p.m. at Campbell Funeral Home in Norris City. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Jerry's memory to Toys for Tots or Semper Fi & America’s Fund and will be accepted at the funeral home or by mail to Campbell Funeral Home, 609 W.Main St., Carmi, IL 62821