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Rita Mary Cosgrove Downs
Rita Mary Cosgrove Downs of Hampton Bays died on October 27. She was 78.
She was born on October 26, 1946, in the Bronx. She attended St. Helena High School.
She moved to Hampton Bays in the early 1960s.
She worked for BOCES and Suffolk Cement, in addition to many loyal customers from her many local employers.
Thirty years ago, she met the love of her life, Thomas Downs, and they were married 25 years ago. Together, they welcomed their grandchildren, Ashley Bard, Mario Miano, Brionna and Victoria Babcock, Jayson and Rose Babcock and three great-grandchildren.
Their melded family included Tom Downs’s children, Tommy Lee and Maria Downs, their son T.J. and Dennis Downs and Chérie Lyn Soucier, and their children and grandchildren.
She was predeceased by her loving parents, William Cosgrove and Marion Healy. She is survived by her siblings, William and Fran Cosgrove, Patrica Cosgrove and William Schrader, Brian Cosgrove, Michael and Janice Cosgrove, Maureen Cosgrove and Ben Porter, Dennis and Stephanie Cosgrove, Kathleen Cosgrove Young and David Young; and her four children, Denise Babcock Miano (Rosario), George Babcock (Patricia), Michael Babcock (Maria) and Brian Babcock.
Services will be held at the Rothwell/Scott Funeral Home in Hampton Bays on Wednesday, October 30, from 2-7 p.m., with prayer services at 3 p.m. and firematic services at 6:30 p.m. There will be a Mass at St. Rosalies Catholic Church in Hampton Bays at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 31, with internment at Good Ground Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations to either St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (stjudeorg) or the Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org) would be appreciated by the family.
Staff Writer on Oct 29, 2024