Gavin Price Ansell Downie (5 December 1924 – 27 January 1998) was a Member of Parliament for Pakuranga in Auckland, New Zealand.
After the war, Downie studied singing, and went to Australia to join the J.C. Williamson touring company, which performed the Gilbert and Sullivan operas.
They married in Sydney 21 December 1950, shortly after, setting sail for New Zealand, for another season of Gilbert and Sullivan operas, in the main centres.
So he left to set up his own woodworking factory in Puhinui Road, Papatoetoe, which was, in the early '50s, a largely rural community.
He then went on to a direct a production of 'Trial by Jury' the following year, where he played the learned Judge, and Elizabeth, and artist, designed the costumes for the bridesmaids.
(See 'After Parliament) Downie married Sue Stafford in 1983, and went to live in the wooded suburb of Titirangi, a place he had always loved.
Downie was a loving family man who supported his children in their aspirations: Sue, an artist, Paul, harpsichord and fortepiano builder, and Kate (Katherine)a jeweler.
he considered the highlight of his Parliamentary career, to have been a trip, as part of his job, to Antarctica, a place which had always fascinated him, probably since his mountaineering days in his teens and early twenties.
[5] A member of the Auckland YMCA, Downie was a keen marathon runner and held the fastest record for the over 60s for several years (3 hours 14 minutes).