Administrative Assistant at Downs & Associates
Words by Thomas Ingle | Images by Justin Hunter
Burton Downs is quick to say her life is not interesting enough to be discussed, but an extended conversation would prove the opposite.
The adventure starts as early as childhood, soaring the skies with her father.
“He was a pilot, and he and Harrison Yelverton shared ownership of a plane, a single-engine Cessna, I believe. I had enough flying hours to get my pilot’s license when I was fourteen, but I needed to be older to get it,” Burton says.
While she has yet to obtain her pilot’s license, Burton’s life has been full of diverse experiences.
Her teen years saw one year spent at a boarding school in Maryland before returning home to Jasper to finish her schooling at Walker High School, where she graduated in 2001. Following this, she completed schooling to become a massage therapist and put her hands to work in Tuscaloosa for a year.
Deciding that massage therapy wasn’t the best fit for her, she left to pursue her studies at the University of Montevallo. Soon after, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and Burton left school to come home and care for her mother and nephew. Following her mother’s eventual cancer-free diagnosis, Burton, her mom, and her stepdad worked with her mom’s Bible study group to renovate the house that is now home to Hope for Women, a residential faith-based addiction recovery program for women founded by the Bible study group in 2012. In August 2014, Burton joined the staff at Hope for Women and even lived in the house for a while.
“The girls there would sometimes pick at me because I never went out on the weekends, and they were like, ‘You’re never going to meet a guy if you don’t leave the house!'” Burton smiles. “But I was like, if God has someone in mind for me, that guy can walk up on the front porch.”
God answered in like fashion when local accountant Joe Downs walked up on the front porch one day, and the rest – as they say – is history.
Burton and Joe embarked on a mission trip to Honduras in April 2016 and opted to get married during the trip. The trip’s lead translator was a Honduran preacher who led the entire ceremony in Spanish.
“We had to have a translator for the translator!” Burton laughs. “Also, this all took place behind a combination gas station and restaurant, and there were peacocks.”
Now, Burton serves as the administrative assistant at Downs and Associates in downtown Jasper. She keeps the office organized, assembles tax returns to get them prepared for Joe to work on, does all the office supply ordering, and occasionally handles payroll for clients.
While Burton may insist that her story lacks intrigue, the mosaic of experiences, from flying high in the skies to caring for her family and contributing to her community, paints a vivid portrait.
Her life’s journey, filled with unexpected turns, is a testament to the richness that can be found in even the seemingly ordinary stories. WL
