Karen Downey

Karen Downey didn’t necessarily aspire toward one career as she grew up on a farm in Oak Grove.

She just wanted to go to work and earn a paycheck. And so, when a job opportunity came up in the days prior to her high school graduation, she took it.
And the rest, so they say, is history for the now 65-year-old Eastern Jackson County resident and civic leader who has been a partner in the family owned small business Downey Construction for more than 20 years.

EXCITED FOR A PAYCHECK
A young woman finds her footsteps in the professional world
Actually, Karen Downey wanted to attend college ­– which would’ve made her the first to do so in her immediate family – but the financial opportunities didn’t exist at that time, so the dream was put on hold permanently.

“How wonderful it would have been if we’d had the A+ Program then,” she says. “That would have been terrific. ... We talked about (going to college) in school, and I just kind of wanted to go, but I knew that my parents couldn’t afford to send me.”

But it’s not as though she wasn’t constantly learning from the environment around her. Downey’s father worked as a supervisor who oversaw work on Jackson County roads, while her mother was a homemaker but also was involved in PTA, church and politics.

“She was always there, taking us to everything,” Downey says of her mother’s role in raising herself and her two brothers and one sister. “She never stopped – she just kept going and going.”

Downey’s father and mother served as Jackson County committee members, and an election poll office was set up not far from Downey’s childhood home on her grandparents’ farm.

“As a young child, I remember coming with them to the Independence Square to bring the votes and bring the ballots when the election night was over,” she says.

Not long before her graduation from Oak Grove High School, Downey was working in the school’s office when her principal received a call that a Kansas City financial company wanted to hire an entry-level file clerk.

Her name was mentioned, and the opportunity was offered. Downey took it.
“Well, I was pretty darned excited,” she says, smiling. “I was excited about the opportunity to go to work and have my own paycheck.”

After one year, Downey moved on to work at several other companies. She was taking a shorthand course when she learned of the job opportunity at which she would spend 23 years of her life.

Downey started as a secretary at Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Company, but she would grow to experience a number of opportunities within the company, including supervisor of department secretaries and a position within the human resources department.

And, perhaps most importantly, the role of college recruiter.

“Which was terrific – and surprising – because I didn’t have a college degree,” Downey says.

Again, an opportunity had knocked, and Downey answered, even though she didn’t have a college degree herself. (She has, however, taken several college courses at Avila and Rockhurst universities throughout her adult life.) She didn’t let the fact that she hadn’t earned a degree hold her back – Downey says the position was more about strong interviewing and human resources skills.
In the 1970s, the opportunities were expanding for women and minorities to attend college. Downey says she worked for two important bosses and mentors who believed in promoting from within the company and in providing opportunities for women and minorities.

Both of those bosses were men. Men and women alike, Downey says, have played strong mentoring roles in her adult life.

Did it make Downey sad to see those resources being offered to attend college, chances that didn’t exist when she was 18?

“You know, I really didn’t think about it because I was pretty excited and happy about going to work,” Downey says. “I liked my job, but I loved human resources, and I thoroughly loved my job at Panhandle Eastern.”

When Downey started her professional career, working women mostly had roles in secretarial-type jobs. Downey says she didn’t necessarily have to work harder because of her gender – she just had a strong work ethic because that’s how she was raised growing up.

“I enjoyed my job, and I never felt like I personally had to work harder – I just did,” Downey says.

Men still dominated the industry she worked in, and as she recruited college graduates for different positions, Downey says most of the engineering positions went to men. She also traveled out-of-state frequently for work – and she traveled mostly with men because the department heads were men.

“But I never felt or experienced any difficulty,” she says. “I was very comfortable with them. I felt so comfortable because I felt so grateful that I had an opportunity to move into a professional position without having a college degree.

“I think I did a very good job because I enjoyed it so much.”
She would probably still be working there, Downey says, if Panhandle, a natural gas pipeline company, hadn’t relocated its operational headquarters from Kansas City to Houston during the late 1980s.

She could have moved to Houston, but Downey wanted to stay close to home and to her roots.

Another opportunity also was on its way.

‘...YOU CAN DO IT ALL’:A wife, a mother, a career woman and a leader

Early in her professional career, Downey met her future husband, Ronald, when they both worked at Butler Manufacturing. He was a welder; she was a secretary for 12 engineers.

They married and are still together 46 years later. The couple have two grown children, Guy Downey and Kim Downey Noble, and four grandchildren.
Upon Panhandle’s departure from Kansas City in the late 1980s, Ronald Downey had a question for his wife: Would she go into the construction business with him?

She said “yes” to working in the office side of the business, with which their son also was involved. Downey Construction is a general contractor that specializes in concrete, commercial and residential projects and that has provided in-kind services for the Independence School District, Andrew Drumm Institute, Truman Heartland Community Foundation, McCoy Park, United Nations Peace Fountain, Rotary Club and others.

“It took us about two years for an adjustment period and to become comfortable with what our roles were,” Downey says of switching into a small family owned business environment from a highly structured corporate job where resources were readily available. “It was a challenge. ... Once we established that, then we worked pretty well together as a team.”

But before that adjustment period, Downey had one major piece of business to accomplish: She joined the Independence Chamber of Commerce. In the mid-1990s, Downey completed the Leadership Education Action and Development Class at the chamber.

In 1998, she was a recipient of the chamber’s Board Member of the Year Award, and four years later, she received the Distinguished Service Award.
And in 2004, Downey served as chairwoman of the chamber’s board of directors, making her only the third woman to have done so at that point in the history of the chamber.

Kim Downey Noble, who has a State Farm Insurance branch on the Square, says her mother worked continuously while raising a family and exposed her children to a wonderful group of supportive mentors and friends. And the word “can’t” isn’t part of the vocabulary in the Downey household.

“With my dad and mother – but especially with my mother – you never look for reasons why things can’t happen,” Kim says. “There is never an obstacle – it’s just always going to get done. There was just always a way that they could get done.”

Though her mother was always working and was always involved in her community, Kim says she never missed out on the experiences that children hope to share with their parents. And even today, as Karen Downey remains active in her career and community, she always has time for her grandchildren, allowing Kim and her husband to do so many things in their professional and personal lives that they wouldn’t be able to do so otherwise, her daughter says.

“I think that the key with her is that once she decides she wants to do something, it’s 175 percent,” Kim says. “She puts her whole heart and soul into it, and she is so energetic and self-motivated.”

–––
Karen Downey continues to serve on the chamber’s board of directors, and her other board terms throughout the years included the Independence Economic Development group, Blue Ridge Bank & Trust Co., Truman Heartland Community Foundation and Sunshine Center School. Earlier this year, Downey was appointed to serve on Centerpoint Medical Center’s board of trustees.

Downey and Shirley Baker, a former business owner on the Square and a lifelong Eastern Jackson County resident, have been friends for more than 40 years. If there is anything you need in life, Baker says, you don’t need to ask Downey – she just knows it.

“Are you kidding me? She has more energy than 10 people. When Karen commits to something, there is no stopping her,” Baker says. “She is very dedicated. She gives it everything she’s got – no excuses.

“As a friend, it’s the same way. She just does the best. She is a terrific gal, and if you’ve got her as a friend, you are very, very lucky.”

Downey’s lessons learned for striking that balance between professional and personal lives is simply stated: Be diligent. Work hard. Volunteer your time, and take on projects when you are asked. Be flexible, and learn from your mistakes.
“What have I left out?” she says, laughing. “No matter what the job is, do a good job at what you’ve been charged to do. Don’t hold back because of fear – when you have that opportunity, seize the moment, and just do it.

“I personally think you can do it all. I think if you put your mind to it, you can do anything you want to do.”