Edwin Allee Downs Jr., 88, of Pennington, died November 8 at Capital Health System at Mercer. Born in Trenton, he lived most of his life in the Princeton-Pennington area. He graduated from Princeton High School in 1938 and then Washington & Jefferson College, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He was commissioned as an ensign in September 1941, serving aboard the destroyer USS Meredith. The Meredith escorted the USS Hornet during the Jimmy Doolittle B-25 raid on Japan. After two years of sea duty, mostly in the South Pacific, he returned to the states to go through flight training. After receiving his wings, he was assigned to the fighter squadron of Air Group 13. After the war, he continued flying in the Navy Reserves until 1961, during which time he held command of one of the fighter squadrons for several years. He retired with the rank of Commander. He worked briefly for CV Hill Company in Trenton before becoming a stockbroker with Hemphill-Noyes in 1955. He retired from Merrill Lynch in 1983 after 28 years in the brokerage business. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Cranbury since childhood; the Princeton American Legion Post No. 76; the Hopewell Valley Golf Club for almost 40 years; the Retired Officers Association; and the U.S. Navy Tailhook Association. He was also a former member of the West Windsor Lions Club. Son of the late Edwin A. and Grace Stults Downs and brother of the late Charles A. Downs, who was killed during the Normandy Invasion in 1944, he is survived by his wife, Edwina Mayo Downs; a sister-in-law, Alyce Mayo of Los Angeles; and an extended family of cousins and nieces. A memorial service will be held today at 11 a.m. at the Wilson-Apple Funeral Home, 2560 Pennington Road, Pennington, with the Rev. Louis Mitchell, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Cranbury, officiating. Interment will be Thursday at 1 p.m. in the Brainerd Cemetery, Cranbury. Friends may call today, Wednesday, from 10 a.m. until time of service at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the SAVE Princeton Small Animal Rescue League, 900 Herrontown Road, Princeton 08540. To send a condolence, visit www.wilsonapple.com. [Town Topics, Princeton, NJ]