Death of Father William James Downs, M.M.
R.I.P.

Father William James Downs, M.M., missionary in East Asia for almost 50 years and for many years, one of the best loved priests in Hong Kong, died in New York on 22 September 1970, aged 80.

Father Downs was born at Pennsylvania on 1 January 1890. After leaving high school he did office work for over two years before entering St. Bonaventure’s Seminary. Alleghany, New York. He was ordained for the diocese of Eire in 1916.

In 1920 Father Downs entered Maryknoll. After five years of work in the U.S.A., he was assigned to Kaying, Kwangtung Province. From 1930 to 1938 he was Maryknoll Superior in Kaying. At the end of his period as superior he came to Hong Kong to teach Hakka to newly arrived Maryknoll missioners at Stanley. In 1943 he returned to the U.S.A. and was for a time superior of the Maryknoll House at Detroit. He returned to Stanley in 1946. In 1948 he was appointed Econome to the South China Region and Society Superior and Assistant Procurator in Hong Kong, a post he held for many years. He returned to the U.S.A. last year, aged 79 and in poor health. His death was caused by a stroke.

All this gives no idea of Father Downs himself, his gentle humour, his kindness, his absorbed interest in amateur astronomy, his friendliness, his power of making even chance acquaintances feel that they were important in his eyes. There was no secret about this last power; it came from within: he regarded every human being as important.
2 October 1970

瑪利諾登甘雨神父
病逝紐約醫院