Timothy J. Downey of Provincetown died unexpectedly on July 19, 2023 at home. “He had a rough go the last few years of his life,” said Tim’s brother, Tom. “While riding his bike, he was hit by a car in a hit and run. His injuries required multiple surgeries.” The immediate cause of his death is still undetermined. Tim was 65.

The youngest of three children, Tim was born on Feb. 15, 1958 in Amityville, N.Y., where his father, John Downey, was a schoolteacher. His mother, Marilyn (Cote) Downey, was from a multi-generation Provincetown family. When Tim was three, John was hired as the principal of Provincetown Elementary School, and the family came home.

Tim grew up in the family home steps from the West End Racing Club. “When we were kids, he was always trailing after us,” said his sister, Debbie. The three siblings spent active summers on the water.

“Tim was a good sailor and swimmer,” Tom said. When he was 12, he would take the family’s Boston Whaler out on the water with his friends. “He tried to avoid getting into trouble,” Tom added.

Tim attended the Provincetown Schools and played baseball, football, and basketball in high school. In his senior year he joined the Ski Club and acted in the senior play. “He was very smart,” said Tom, “and he was a talented actor.”

After graduating in 1976, Tim majored in business administration at Boston College, graduating in 1980.

Tim was always entrepreneurial. He got involved with building, Tom said, and the two brothers built a number of houses together. Before it became “a thing,” said Tom, Tim had a road-to-Damascus moment and became a committed conservationist. Rather than building houses and putting them on the market, he worked “to take properties off the market,” Tom said.

To accomplish that, in 2003 Tim co-founded Landsquares, a company that sold shares in properties to multiple buyers who wanted to preserve land in towns they loved. Tom said that Landsquares successfully conserved beachfront properties in Wellfleet and Provincetown and on the Oregon coast.

After the hit and run accident, keeping Landsquares up and running was too difficult. Tom said there are plans to revive the enterprise as part of Tim’s legacy.

Carrying on a family tradition, Tim became a Lions Club member, and he served on the Provincetown Recreation Commission for many years.

Tim is survived by his sister, Deborah Downey Buckley of Provincetown; brother Thomas E. Downey of South Yarmouth; nieces Rebecca Saunders of Alexandria, Va., Katherine Buckley of Provincetown, and Jillian Downey of Peabody; nephews John T. Downey and Dylan Downey, both of Yarmouth Port; and great-niece Amira Saunders of Alexandria, Va.

Donations may be made in Tim’s memory to the gift fund, Provincetown Recreation Dept., 2 Mayflower St., Provincetown 02657.

Services will be private.