Richard Dowd

1924 - 2013

Dowd, Richard of Maitland, FL, passed away on October 30, 2013 after a period of declining health. He was 89. Mr. Dowd was born in Lee, MA, on February 4, 1924, the eldest of seven children. The Dowd family relocated to the Carlisle, PA area, where Mr. Dowd graduated from high school. He served in the Army Air Corps in World War II, and attended Drexel Institute of Technology, graduating with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Mr. Dowd married Elizabeth Schellhase in 1947. He was employed by the Glenn L. Martin Company, Piasecki Helicopter Corporation, and Aircraft Armaments, Inc. Mr. Dowd lived for a number of years near Baltimore, and enjoyed sailing on the Chesapeake Bay. A career opportunity at Martin Marietta brought the family to Central Florida in 1965, where they continued to sail. Mr. Dowd was employed at Martin Marietta until his retirement in 1990 as a Vice President, Martin Marietta Missile Systems. Mr. and Mrs. Dowd enjoyed traveling across the US and Canada in their RV every summer, and spent many hours doing genealogical research along the way. Mr. Dowd took great pride in surpassing in age all of his known ancestors. He was an active member of the Maitland Men's Club. Ever the engineer, even into his last weeks of life, he was always looking for things to repair in his visits with family and friends. Mr. Dowd was predeceased by his wife in 2005. He leaves his daughters, Lee of Winter Park, and her husband Jeffry Fuqua; Lynn of Wayland, MA; grandson Thorry Smith and great grandson Rohan Dowd Smith, of Payson, AZ; brothers Charles and his wife Muriel, of Newville, PA, and Edward and his wife Anita, of Carlisle, PA; brother-in-law John Schellhase of Bedford, MA; cousin Rosalie Colman of Boca Raton; many nieces and nephews; and his beloved grand-dog Jazmine. A celebration of Mr. Dowd's life will be held on the 90th anniversary of his birth. He will be buried in Fairmount Cemetery in Lee, MA, in the spring. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory can be made to the Dr. Randall Cannon Fairbanks Animal Hospital Animal Fund at 753 W. Fairbanks Ave., Winter Park, FL, 32789; or the Dr. Constance DiNatale Veterinary Acupuncture and Complementary Therapy Animal Fund at 742 Clay St., Winter Park, FL 32789.