Audrey Phyllis Downey

Audrey Phyllis Downey, 93, went to be with the Lord on October 9, 2023, Thanksgiving Day. Audrey was born in Dublin, Ireland September 9, 1930, to Charles E. V. Archer and Ellen (Nellie) Young Archer. She is predeceased by her parents, her husband, James Kenneth Downey (Ken), and two older siblings, Charles Stuart Leslie Archer (Les) and Olive Edna Archer Young McAllister (Edna). Audrey is survived by her three children, Hilary of Kamloops, BC, Stuart (Heather) of Thetis Island, BC, and Brian (Melody) of Keller, Texas; grandchildren, Matthew (Andrea), Christopher (Alicia), Twyla, and Brenna Faith; great-grandchildren, Lucas, Nathaniel, Terran, and Kendralee.

Audrey attended boarding school at Newtown School in Waterford, Ireland and then went on to Alexandra College and Ling Physical Education College, both in Dublin. After graduating college, Audrey relocated to Windsor, Ontario and served as the Director of Physical Education for the YWCA. In 1956, Ken Downey travelled from Dublin to Canada on business and visited Audrey, and after a whirlwind few days, and with much counsel and prayer with a pastor friend in Chicago, the two were engaged and later married on November 6, 1956. In 1959 Ken and Audrey emigrated to Vancouver, Canada where they raised their family and Audrey ran Malton House Kindergarten. They retired to Victoria and continued to serve faithfully in the church. They were married 53 years until Ken’s homegoing on February 27, 2010.

Audrey loved the Lord and was eager for her homegoing, and what a Thanksgiving she had!  Her family will miss her deeply, and is grateful for the care she received from the staff at The Steeples in Chemainus and the Cowichan District Hospital in Duncan.