Mrs. Mary C. Downing, 85, of Aiken, SC, entered into eternal rest Sunday, morning, November 23, 2003 at Pepperhill Nursing Center, Aiken, SC. Funeral services will be held Saturday, morning, November 29, 2003 at 11 o?clock in the chapel of Hatfield-Prusa Funeral Home, Coldwater, KS. Interment will follow in Coldwater Cemetery, Coldwater. The family will receive friends Saturday from 9 o?clock until the hour of service at Hatfield-Prusa. She was born June 18, 1918 in Coldwater, KS to Carsten and Carrie Nickelson, homesteaders and ranchers in Comanche County, KS. Mrs. Downing lived most of her life in Southwestern Kansas before moving to Aiken, SC, in September 1999. She and her husband of sixty-seven years, Robert L. Downing, resided at Cumberland Village prior to his death October 20, 2002. Her mother and father as well as six siblings also preceded her in death. A sister, Anna Coberly, 97, Hutchinson, KS, survives her, as well as a brother-in-law, Edgar Downing, Odessa, TX, and two sisters-in-law, Myrtle Sutherland, Westerville, OH and Dorothy Purkey, Wichita, KS. Additionally, her son and daughter-in-law, Robert W. and Marva L. Downing, Aiken, SC; grandchildren, Marci Pearson, Manhattan, KS, Bradley C. Downing, Peoria, IL, and Brian S. Downing, Bloomington, IL; Christian and Jamie Pearson and Branden Downing, as well as a host of friends survive her. As well as a homemaker and mother, she was also employed by the First State Bank, Mullinville, KS for over thirty-three years where she thoroughly enjoyed the daily communication with friends and neighbors of the community. She was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and the Federated Women?s Club. The family has asked that memorials in memory of Mrs. Downing be made to Mullinville United Methodist Church, Mullinville, KS 67209 or the American Diabetes Association, 326 Greene St., Augusta, GA 30901.