Mary Elaine Downing

Elaine Downing was born in Ottawa, Ontario on October 16, 1924. Her dad, Vernon Barclay, was a military man and a sharpshooter - Mom said he almost made the Bisley team, which was a real accomplishment. Her mom, Myrtle, was a talented artist and gave Mom some of her paintings that adorned the walls of our childhood home. She had two brothers, one younger (Ken) and one older (Donald). We didn't know a lot of details about her life in the early days, but she was a beautiful young woman with a great singing voice - she made an unaccompanied voice recording of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" on a 78RPM record and sounded as good as the original... her artistic handle was "Veronica Swamp", a humorous take on a well known actress of the day. Her ability to see the humorous side of pretty much any situation was one of her stellar qualities and endeared her to many people.

Mom and her family made it through WWII without serious incident and in 1949, she was introduced to the love of her life John Downing by his sister Leila. Soon after they married and five years later Dave was born, then Laura and Lisa. She and Dad raised the family in Calgary, finally retiring to Cochrane in 1998.

Mom loved animals, starting with her bull terrier friend "Wowee" whom she fondly remembered all of her life, and continuing with a well-cared for and loved succession of cats, dogs and horses. She always took time to feed the birds and taught their names and habits to her children; it was a joy in her final years to look out the window at the bird feeder. She had a green thumb and a lot of plants and inspired her son to study them.

Mom was devoted to her family. She was for her children and grandchildren a most thorough teacher, showing us through an individually tailored approach that love's lessons can be peaceful and pleasant but not always and they are all meant for our growth. She taught us by word and deed to be careful observers, to monitor our emotions and to think before we acted or spoke. She healed our hurts; dried our tears; allayed our fears; celebrated our successes; and dispensed insights often in the form of short phrases and sentences when we needed to hear them.

She was a second mom to a lot of our friends, remembered fondly by them to this day for her kindness, her sense of humour, and her great cooking. When people needed help, she was there for them. She and Dad were generous donors to many charities. She did volunteer work of all kinds and for many years worked for Meals on Wheels, delivering meals to the needy.

Elaine had the courage and the intelligence to step forward in the male-dominated political world of the sixties and her well-spoken approach led to her appointment as the vice-president of the Alberta Liberal Party, the first woman to hold that office. She had an influence with those in high places in those days - Grant McKewan, Lester Pearson, Pierre Trudeau - and gave her kids the opportunity to meet some of them.

Mom travelled a lot with Dad; over the years, they saw places, met people and had experiences that most of us would only get from National Geographic. They spent a lot of time both as a couple and with their children and grandchildren in the Rockies and Mom rode thousands of miles over the years with her friends until her mid-seventies; she was a lifetime member of the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies and remembered the campfires, the tepees and the golden larches with a smile even in the final days of her life.

Mom was always concerned for the safety and happiness of her family and although she too had fears, she didn't dwell on them. At her life's end, she faced death with the courage of a peaceful warrior and welcomed its visitation, yet another valuable lesson for her children and grandchildren to reinforce what their father and grandfather had already taught. She believed in a higher Power, and she accepted on faith that the soul goes on when the body fails. So perhaps a closing remark incorporating a quote from "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran is appropriate and would reflect a sentiment that she might regard as an interesting possibility:

"This day has ended... it is closing upon us even as the water-lily upon its own to-morrow ... Forget not that I shall come back to you ... A little while, and my longing shall gather dust and foam for another body. A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bear me."

We love you Mom. We will meet again, perhaps here in this world, perhaps in a place beyond time and space, where we'll build another dream together.