Wallace R. Dowd Jr.

RAdm. Wallace R. DOWD, Jr. SC, USN (RET) Wally Dowd died on 14 July 2003 in Bremerton, Washington, after a brief illness. He was born in Cambridge, MA. on July 21, 1921 to the late RAdm. and Mrs. Wallace R. Dowd, both deceased. As a Navy junior he moved often with his parents and graduated from Bremerton High School in 1938. He was a member of NROTC, and graduated from the University of Washington. He was commissioned Ensign in the U.S. Navy Supply Corps on 11 July 1942. Subsequent education was at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Naval War College. Wally had a long (35 years) and distinguished Navy career that spanned WWII, the Korean War and the Viet Nam War with tours of duty both afloat and ashore. Wally's career reached its pinnacle in December 1972 when he was selected to be the Navy's top supply officer and assumed the titles of Commander Naval Supply Systems Command and Chief of Supply Corps. At retirement in March 1977, his awards for naval service included two Distinguished Service Medals, The Legion of Merit with Gold Star, the Navy Commendation Medal and various service medals for wartime service. In 1978, the Dowd's built their home on the Hood Canal, a place that they both love so much. After leaving the Navy, he was the CEO of two corporations in Seattle and Beaverton, Oregon. He also served as President, Board of Trustees, for the Seattle Lighthouse For The Blind, and as a director of the National Industries For The Blind in Wayne, N.J. Wally Dowd was a highly respected leader in the Navy, in business, and of non-profit organizations. He was a friend first and mentor second to many people both in and out of the Navy. We will miss him greatly. His wife, Polly, and two daughters, Kathleen Avery of Woodland Park, Colorado, and Patricia Paine of Madison, Maine, plus two grandchildren, Jessica Reed and Mark Paine, and six great grandchildren survive him. A Memorial Service and Inurnment will be at Arlington National Cemetery later this summer. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Navy Supply Corps Scholarship Foundation, Navy Supply Corps School, Athens, GA. 30606, or Lighthouse for the Blind, P.O. Box 14119, Seattle, WA. 98114.