Florence “Florrie” Glassbrook Finn (Downs) was born in Chicago on February 3, 1905. She graduated from Marymount High School.
At the University of Illinois, she joined Theta Phi Alpha, which was then a sorority for Catholic women. Illinois was home to the sorority’s second chapter. Its house was at 1005 West Nevada Street.
President of Alpha Lambda Theta, freshman women’s honorary society, she was also a member of the Alethenai Literary Society, Women’s Athletic Association basketball and baseball, among other organizations. She served as Theta Phi Alpha’s Panhellenic representative. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, she graduated in 1927.
She married James C. Downs, Jr on June 20, 1929. The couple 40 years living in Illinois before moving to Naples, Florida in 1970. They were the parents of three children.
Downs volunteered for the Infant Welfare League. She also earned a certificate from the Library of Congress. It allowed her to transcribe books into braille.
When she was 50, she learned to fly a plane so she and her husband could fly together. At age 84, Downs leg had to be amputated below the knee and she learned how to walk with a prosthesis.
She died on April 17, 1999, at the age of 94.
