Ralph Anson and Hazel (Torrance) Downes
I never knew Ralph Anson Downes, my grandfather. Born in 1897, he died in June of 1954, a little over a year before I was born. Grandmother Hazel Downes lived beyond Ralph Anson by about 23 year. “Grandmom” always came to holiday dinners like Thanksgiving and Christmas, as did my father’s sister’s family. “Aunt Hazel’s” kids, our first cousins, included Susan, CB (Charles Bennett) and Missy Shipley. Most of the collection of photos on the Frederick, Ralph A and Ralph T pages are from a collection that Missy had and lent to me about three years ago. I’m so thankful, because our side of the family have very few of these family photos.
Ralph Anson Downes, Hazel Torrance Downes, Hazel Virginia Downes and Ralph Torrance Downes are buried in Plymouth 184 A in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, PA. Ralph Anson was the first of that generation to pass, so when Hazel Torrance had to locate a suitable plot for burial, its likely that she looked for something close to her mother and father, Melissie and John Henry Torrance. The Torrance’s plot is a mere 75 feet from the Downes plot, but there are no markers there. One of my missions it to purchase and place a marker from my great grandparents on my grandmother’s side. Dr. John Henry Torrance, a dentist, is my namesake.
