Kathy Downer: An Appreciation

I have mentioned before that I felt somewhat out of my league when I was bumped up to the accelerated class (6B) at Hexter Elementary School in September 1964. All those kids were smart and none more so than Kathy Ann Downer.

A 5-star student

In school, she was an alpha-female. Math, science, language arts, social studies, history—she excelled at everything. Kathy ran circles around me. To say she gave me an inferiority complex may be an overstatement, but not by much. While I was a borderline member of 6B and later 7B, the teachers and Principal Carl Nutley never had any reasons to question their choice of young Ms. Downer. I recall the special projects we were sometimes required to do. We had to make something at home and bring it in to display before our fellow students. While I complied, my stuff was fair-to-middling. But Kathy’s—Lord have mercy—they were veritable works of art, well-conceived, well-executed things that dazzled all of us. Furthermore, she was pretty and socially adept. Girls and boys alike gravitated toward her. She was popular without striving for popularity. Not remotely insecure, she just seemed to glide from one achievement to another. Kathy Downer was a balanced, focused and active European-American teenager, wise beyond her years.

We moved on to Hill Junior High School in September 1966 and began interacting with students from other feeder schools like Reinhardt, Sanger, Reilly and Gill. I had less contact with Kathy in those years, but if she was not an A student and a cheerleader or member of the Lassies drill team, I would be shocked.

Her three years at BA

Then, in September 1968 our time at Bryan Adams High School commenced. You think she missed a beat? She was on the B honor roll as a sophomore and the A honor roll the last two years, and took part in a plethora of extracurricular activities. Kathy was a member of the Spirits her first two years, and then a cheerleader when we were seniors; a member of Tri-Hi-Y; a member of the Quill and Scroll Society; BA’s representative in Goals for Dallas; senior class secretary and editor-in-chief of the 1971 El Conquistador. The annual was a huge undertaking, and the job of leading its staff was bestowed with great care by the teachers and administrators at BA. Kathy and her assistants (Bobbie Jean Caldwell, Robin Rose, Jo Beth Stephenson, Kate Green et al.) created a 416-page book that serves as a valuable historical document. It recalls well life for 3,300 students at our alma mater in the 1970−71 school year.

The staff of the El C had as one of its duties choosing a pair of recipients of the “Gold Cougar Award,” one boy and one girl. The former was Kyle Gooch, and the latter was the equally impressive Kathy Downer. I surely do not mean to stir the pot 47 years after the fact, but her selection would appear to be a conflict of interest!

Kathy, a Razorback

We picked up our diplomas in late May 1971 at Memorial Auditorium in downtown Dallas. Kathy was neither valedictorian (that was Susan Lamb) nor salutatorian (Steven Hayter), but she did graduate with high honors. After the summer had passed, I went south to UT. She went northeast to the University of Arkansas. It is unclear why Kathy decided to become a Razorback—not that there’s anything wrong with it. Were one or both of her parents alumni, did she get an academic scholarship, or was she entranced by the “woo pig sooey” call? I am not sure what she majored in at UA, but I can tell you she was a “little sister” for the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. At the time of our 15-year class reunion, she worked as a national sales manager for KXAS-TV. It does not surprise me one bit that Kathy was on a successful career path.

I wish I could give a full description of the other things Kathy Downer has done since 1986, but I know only that she is living somewhere in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.