Mary E. "Betty" Downs, a retired educator who had been chairman of the guidance department at City College and was also an accomplished painter, died Monday at her daughter's Mount Washington home of complications of dementia. She was 87.
"It was very evident that Betty had a calmness, was compassionate and really took matters to heart. She was a very nice person and a friend to all," said Dr. Solomon Lausch, who was principal of City College from 1978 to 1988. "She also helped 85 percent of our students point to a post-secondary education."
Allan B. Rosskopf was a colleague of Mrs. Downs' at City College, where he taught English, journalism and computer applications from 1982 to 1996.
"There are really positive people in the world and Betty was one of them," said Mr. Rosskopf, who is retired and lives in White City, Fla. "She was the epitome of a guidance counselor. She was generous and soft, but could be firm, and was non-confrontational when telling the truth."
The daughter of Roberts Rugh, an embryologist, and Harriet Sheldon Rugh, a nursery school teacher, the former Mary Elizabeth Rugh was born in Oberlin, Ohio, and moved in 1929 with her family to New York.
"She always loved Manhattan," said her daughter, Jennifer Downs of Mount Washington.
After graduating in 1945 from the High School of Music and Art, Mrs. Downs earned a bachelor's degree in 1949 from Oberlin College and later earned a master's degree in guidance and counseling from what is now Towson University.
In 1948, she married Allison J. Downs, an educator. The couple came to Baltimore in 1950 when her husband joined the faculty of Gilman School, where he taught English and later became department chair, until retiring in 1989.
Mrs. Downs was a guidance counselor at Herring Run Junior High School when she was named to head the guidance department at City College in 1978.
"Betty joined the faculty at City in 1978 when we were reorganizing the faculty for the new City College, said Dr. Lausch, who later became superintendent of the Schuylkill Valley School District in Pennsylvania.
"Betty came out of an educational environment. Her husband was a longtime teacher and she had an air and aura of intelligence," said Dr. Lausch, who is now executive director of the Berks Business Education Coalition in Reading, Pa.
"She was proud to be working with students. She was very able, committed and insightful, and always said her years at City were one of the highlights of her life," he said.
"I was newspaper and play adviser, so I worked with a lot of kids, and Betty always made them feel that she was on their side. She would nurse them along and was sensitive to their needs. And she was really special when it came to placing kids in appropriate colleges," said Mr. Rosskopf.
He added: "Her door was always open to the kids and faculty. It was much better for the student then sending them to an administrator."
Rodney L. Joyner is now director of college advising at City College, where he was a student from 1980 until graduating in 1984.
"Betty was extremely instrumental in making sure that I went to a good college and she was a role model for me," said Mr. Joyner, who earned a bachelor's degree from what is now McDaniel College.
"For me, she was pretty easygoing but she had a certain tenacity about her in making sure everyone got to college," he said. "She felt it was her place to do all she could so we could have opportunities. She was very self-sacrificing with her time and extra energy."
One of Mrs. Downs' accomplishments was establishing a practicum in 1980 for senior students that earned them academic credit while working with an adult sponsor.
"It got the students active in community outreach, and Betty's practicum was so ahead of its time," said Susan Laugen, community outreach and internship director at City Neighbors High School in Baltimore.
"It gave the students a chance to see how adults work in the world. It was a real win-win," said Ms. Laugen, a longtime family friend, who directs a similar initiative at her school for junior students.
"We insist that this be an 'educational' experience, in the broadest sense of the word, and expect it to provide career insight, direction and incentive," wrote Mrs. Downs in a 1983 article in The Baltimore Sun. "It has been successful beyond our wildest hopes."
She retired in 1989.
When her husband was teaching at Gilman, the couple lived in a house on campus, and after he retired, moved to a home on Melrose Avenue, and in 2012, to the Charlestown retirement community. Since 2014, they have resided at Springwell Senior Living in Mount Washington.
Mrs. Downs, who enjoyed painting, drawing and pottery making, always maintained a basement studio in her homes, her daughter said.
Mrs. Downs enjoyed spending summers at a rustic cabin on Deer Isle, Maine, with her family and dancing.
A memorial gathering will be held at 1 p.m. May 9 at City College, 3220 The Alameda.
In addition to her husband and daughter, Mrs. Downs is survived by two sons, Michael J. Downs of Tel Aviv and John A. Downs of Iowa City, Iowa; a brother, William A. Rugh of Garrett Park; and two grandchildren.