Josephine Grimsley Downer

FLORENCE Josephine Grimsley Strickland Downer, 103, died Saturday, December 14, 2013, after an illness.

Funeral services will be 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, December 18, 2013, in First Baptist Church. Burial will follow in Mount Hope Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, at Waters-Powell Funeral Home.

Jo was born in Florence, a daughter of the late Daniel Norton and Norma Bryant Grimsley. She attended Winthrop College and was employed with civil service at the Shaw Air Force Base. She retired from Vocational Rehabilitation in Florence.

Jo was a member of First Baptist Church, where she taught Sunday School and played piano. She was also a member of the Christian Womens Club and a Gourmet Club.

She was predeceased by her husband, Haynie Downer, and a son, Arthur M. Strickland, III.

Teeny Mama will be lovingly missed by daughter-in-law, Shirley Strickland of Florence; granddaughter, Elizabeth Anne Strickland, of Florence; two grandsons, Arthur Strickland IV (Beverly Ann) of Milwaukee, WI, and Daniel Walker (Kristy) Strickland of Guyton, GA; five great-grandchildren, Arthur M. Strickland V, Tanya Maria (Bill) Gonzalez, Ashley Ray Strickland, Michael Brandon Strickland, and Jacob Walker Strickland; and two great-great-grandchildren, Gia and Phoenix Gonzalez.

Memorials may be made to First Baptist Church, 300 S. Irby St., Florence, SC 29501; or the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, NC 28201, or billygraham.org.

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