Joseph P. Dowd

EAST DENNIS - Joseph P. Dowd, 81, died Feb. 2, 2007, at Epoch of Harwich after a long struggle with cancer and Alzheimer's.

Born in the Bronx, N.Y., he graduated from All Hallows Grammar School and High School. A World War II veteran, he served with the Marine Corps in the Pacific area. After his return, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Ohio's Bowling Green University.

In 1952, he married the former Patricia Evans in Peekskill, N.Y. In 1951, he joined the Standard Brands Inc. and soon was named assistant credit manager and transferred to their Dallas branch. He was later named assistant treasurer of the company, and after a merger, assistant treasurer of Nabisco Brands Inc. In 1988, he was made vice president of R.J.R. Nabisco, in charge of credit operations, both nationally and internationally.

In the course of his career, he chaired such business groups as the Distillers, Importers and Wine Groups, N.Y.; Credit Financial Management Association of the National Association of Credit Managers; Grocery Associates; National Food Manufacturers Credit Groups; National Health and Beauty Aides and Pharmaceutical Credit Groups; and Bathone Division of the National Management Corp.

In 1989, when R.J. Reynolds reorganized, he retired to Cape Cod. A frequent volunteer for local and church related activities, he sang in the choir at Our Lady of the Cape.

Survivors include his wife, Pat; sons, James Patrick his wife, Susan, and their children, Chili and Grey; Terence Michael and his daughter, Colleen; and Joseph Patrick Jr. and his wife, Sheila, and their sons, Conor, Jack and Sean; and his daughter, Patricia Ann Kane and her husband, Timothy, and their children, Jack, Katie, Marty, and Liza. He was predeceased by a son, Kevin, whose wife, Luzviminda, and son, Tony, survive. Also surviving are his sisters, Lucy Fitzgerald, Kathleen Grua and Joan Miller; brothers, Martin and James; and many nieces and nephews.

A visitation will be held Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the Doane, Beal & Ames Funeral Home, 729 Route 134, South Dennis, from 3 to 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian burial will be offered on Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 11 a.m., at Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stoney Brook Road, Brewster. Interment will follow in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Route 134, South Dennis.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Our Lady of the Cape Building Fund, PO Box 1799, Brewster, MA 02631-1799, or to Hospice & Palliative Care of Cape Cod, 765 Attucks Lane, Hyannis, MA 02601.