Marguerite Noel Downing

Marguerite drew her final breath just less than a year after her husband Jim drew his. She is survived by her children Janis Holt, Ken Downing and Pamela Noel Hughes, seven grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

Marguerite grew up in Mentone, California. She attended the University of Redlands before transferring to the University of California at Santa Barbara where she met Jim, who sold her a pair of shoes and didn’t let her walk away. They were married for 72 years. Marguerite earned her master’s at University of California Long Beach and spent many years teaching home economics, with the majority of them at Mount Vernon Junior High School in Los Angeles, CA.

Marguerite and Jim raised their family in Santa Monica, CA and after retiring from teaching moved back to Santa Barbara, where she was very involved at Veronica Springs Church and sponsored a monthly social to provide scholarships for women.

Marguerite loved travel, which was a spark ignited by rides in her uncle’s plane as a little girl. She and Jim hosted many international students over the years from countries including Spain, Denmark, Japan, Mongolia, Belgium, Germany, Uganda and Kenya and their travels included visiting the friends that they had made as well as meeting new ones.

A memorial will be held on Wednesday, September 13 at 2:00 PM at Veronica Springs Church in Santa Barbara.