Connie Maxine Blackwell, daughter of the late Robert Downing and Virginia Wade Downing, was born on October 13, 1949, in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, and departed this life on September 14, 2021, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, at the age of 71 years.

Mrs. Blackwell was a former branch office manager for Edward Jones and a former employee of Wayne Millington trucking. She was a member of the Dexter Church of Christ in Dexter, Missouri, and a resident of Dexter. She enjoyed gardening.

On August 6, 1967, in Portia, Arkansas, she was united in marriage to Jim Blackwell. Mr. Blackwell survives of their home in Dexter.

In addition to her husband Jim, she is survived by two daughters, Susie Blackwell (Gary) Summers of Dexter, Missouri, and Sarah Blackwell (Lee Dalton) of Socorro, New Mexico; by her sister, Regina Downing (Keith) Robertson of Walnut Ridge, Arkansas; by her granddaughter, Tayler (Louis) Schwent; and by her great-granddaughter, Avery Lesley.

Other than by her parents, she was preceded in death by her brother, Larry Downing.

Visitation will be held at Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter on Monday, September 20, 2021, from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.

A memorial service will then be conducted in the Mathis Funeral Home Chapel on Monday, September 20, 2021, at 7:00 p.m.

Memorials may be made to the Children’s Home Inc., 5515 Walcott Road, Paragould, Arkansas 72450-3319.