Father Downs with his dog in Meixien, China, 1935.

This is a photograph of Fr. Downs with his dog the "family protector."; Born in Pennsylvania, Fr. Downs came to Maryknoll in 1920 after being ordained in the Erie Diocese in 1916. He took a perpetual oath to Maryknoll in 1930. He was assigned to Kaying in 1925 and became Society Superior there in 1930. In 1939 he was assigned to teach the Hakka dialect in Hong Kong. He spent many years in Hong Kong and the South China region before returning to the United States in 1969