John Feland McDowell

MCDOWELL, John Feland, 78, of Williamsburg, died Saturday, October 4, 2008 of congestive heart failure at Hospice House in Williamsburg. Born in Ephraim McDowell Memorial Hospital in Danville, Ky. on April 29, 1930, he was the son of the late Charles Rice McDowell of Danville, Ky. and Catherine Frazier Feland of Lawrenceburg, Ky. Raised in "Harmony Hollow" on the campus of Washington & Lee University in Lexington, where his father was a full professor on the Law Faculty for 42 years, Mr. McDowell regarded Lexington "home" throughout his life. He was a graduate of W & L, class of 1952, and of W & L School of Law, class of 1954. While at W & L, he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon social fraternity and Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity, played for four years on the lacrosse team and coached the freshman team while in law school. Following college and law school, he spent two years in the Army, principally assigned as a Counter Intelligence Agent in Germany. After his discharge from the Army, Mr. McDowell was hired in February, 1957, by State Farm Mutual Auto Insurance Co. and spent the next 38 years at various positions in Virginia and North Carolina. He retired in 1995. Mr. McDowell is survived by his wife of 50 years, Emily Anne Irby McDowell of Williamsburg and formerly of Blackstone; his son, John Feland McDowell Jr. and his wife, Ruth Petr McDowell, of Ashburn; his daughter, Claiborne McDowell White and her husband, James Latham White Jr., of Glen Allen; his son, Charles Irby McDowell and his wife, Marie Lapetina, of Williamsburg; and six grandchildren, Kellie Petr McDowell of Ashburn, Charles Wilson Monaghan, John Irby White and Archer Wilkins White of Glen Allen; Nash Lapetina McDowell and South Lapetina McDowell of Williamsburg. He is also survived by his brother, Charles Rice McDowell Jr. and his wife, Ann, of Alexandria; and two nieces and a nephew. We will celebrate his life with an informal gathering at the family home in Williamsburg from 3 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, October 9. Burial will be private at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial contribution to one of the following: Hospice House of Williamsburg, 4445 Powhatan Parkway, Williamsburg, Va. 23188, Stonewall Jackson House, 8 E. Washington Street, Lexington, Va. 24450, or Schwartz Tavern Society, Blackstone, Va. 23834.
This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.