Michael Dowden (OK 1951)

After leaving King’s in 1951, Michael completed his national service in the Royal Navy before joining his father’s accountancy practice in the City of London. Following his qualification as a Chartered Accountant, Michael joined Peat Marwick Mitchell in London (now KPMG). While with the firm, he, together with a small team of fellow accountants, worked for a couple of years as external auditors at the Iranian Oil Refining Company in the Persian Gulf during the reign of the Shah.

After marrying in Abadan in 1962, Michael returned to the UK to start a family. He continued to hold a number of senior positions in corporate finance with various companies and retired in Roade, Northamptonshire in 1997, having worked for Pianoforte Supplies for just over 20 years. Michael loved reading, walking and listening to classical music and spent a large part of his leisure time being actively involved in the Catholic Church and charity work including working closely with the St Vincent de Paul Society.

He had an excellent dry sense of humour, which was captured perfectly in an article he had published in the Independent on his wry take on the Inland Revenue’s advertising campaign at the time.

He moved to Kent two years ago to be near his sister and her family and died peacefully in March 2021. He leaves a son and a daughter and will be missed greatly by his family and friends.