Winchester woman Martha C. Downing dies at 95, funeral set June 12

Martha C. Downing’s life stretched from Maysville, Kentucky, to Winchester, with family ties that reached into Seaman, Cincinnati and Wilmington and a final resting place at Ash Ridge Cemetery. She died Sunday, June 7, 2026, at her residence in Winchester. She was 95.

Born March 9, 1931, the daughter of Eugene and Marie (DuZan) Hendrix, Downing remained rooted in the church and family circles that help define small-town Adams County life. She was a member of Ash Ridge Christian Church, tying her name to one of the local congregations that have long anchored families across the county. In Winchester, a village laid out in 1815 by Joseph Darlinton and home to 987 people in the 2020 census, notices like hers become part of the record of a place where generations still overlap.

Downing was preceded in death by her husband, Russell Downing, along with her brothers Jack Hendrix and Gene Hendrix and a grandchild, Jordan Russell Downing. Her survivors include sons Mark Downing and Lynn of Cincinnati, Gary Downing of Wilmington and Tim Downing and Gail of Seaman; daughter Patty Downing of Cincinnati; six grandchildren, Justin Downing, Katie Silcott, Jordanna Raugh, Jennifer Downing, Brian Downing and Corey Downing; and five great-grandchildren, Jakob Silcott, Braxton Silcott, Mia Downing, Lilly Downing and Kaia Downing.

Funeral services are set for 2 p.m. Thursday, June 12, at Meeker Funeral Home in Russellville, with visitation one hour before the service. Burial will follow at Ash Ridge Cemetery in Ash Ridge, where the family name will join a burial ground that carries hundreds of memorial records and remains part of the region’s shared history.

For Adams County families, the notice reads as more than an announcement of death. It marks another branch in the long local story of surnames, churches, cemeteries and county roads that continue to connect Winchester, Russellville, West Union and the communities around them.