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May 10, 2009
Services
Funeral services will be held at 8 PM on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, NJ 07470.
Friends may visit with the family on Wednesday from 2-4 and 7-9 PM at the funeral home.
Interment will be at the Greenfield Cemetery, 650 Nassau Road, Uniondale, NY, where we will meet 11:15 AM on Thursday, May 14, 2009, for a graveside committal service.
Robert Frank McDowell, age 81 of Branchville, New Jersey passed away on the morning of Sunday, May 10, 2009 peacefully with the comfort of family by his side, while listening to Frank Sinatra.
Born July 8, 1927, and raised in Lynbrook, NY, Bob graduated from Malvern Senior High School in the spring of 1945. He later received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Hofstra University with the class of 1949. Having formerly lived in Copiague, and later Selden, Long Island, Bob followed in his father’s footsteps by retiring to “Linden Cottage” the family summer home, on Culver Lake.
For most of his working life, Bob was employed in the aerospace industry at such Long Island-based companies as Sperry’s, Grumman, Gyrodyne and finally the Raytheon Corporation, where he retired in 1989.
On July 28, 1951, Bob married the love of his life, the late Dorothy Ann (Niebuhr) McDowell, who he met through his best friend and her younger brother, Henry Niebuhr. As a young couple in love, Bob and Dot could often be found cruising Long Island in a powder blue car with a rumble seat, or at one of the many social gatherings he and his Sigma Epsilon fraternity brothers hosted.
Bob was an avid parishioner, deacon and choir member of several churches throughout his life; most notably Grace Presbyterian Church, Selden, NY; Christ Union Chapel, Branchville, NJ; and Frankford Plains United Methodist Church, Augusta, NJ.
Quite the music lover, Bob spent much of his free time traveling around the community with the choir, singing for those who could not attend church themselves. At an imposing 6'3" with an equally imposing deep voice, and enormous hands built for trapping and tickling grandchildren; Bob was a quiet, loving, well-educated man. He loved to learn and connect with people of all ages; even attending classes to learn how to draw and paint well into his seventies. With such a full schedule, Bob, ever the family man, still found his time best spent surrounded by family.
He is survived by his daughters, Diane C. Stocek and Debra A. Baldwin; his son Robert Frank McDowell, Jr.; his eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Funeral services will be held at 8 PM on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, NJ 07470.
Friends may visit with the family on Wednesday from 2-4 and 7-9 PM at the funeral home.
Interment will be at the Greenfield Cemetery, 650 Nassau Road, Uniondale, NY, where we will meet 11:15 AM on Thursday, May 14, 2009, for a graveside committal service.
May 10, 2009
Services
Funeral services will be held at 8 PM on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, NJ 07470.
Friends may visit with the family on Wednesday from 2-4 and 7-9 PM at the funeral home.
Interment will be at the Greenfield Cemetery, 650 Nassau Road, Uniondale, NY, where we will meet 11:15 AM on Thursday, May 14, 2009, for a graveside committal service.
Robert Frank McDowell, age 81 of Branchville, New Jersey passed away on the morning of Sunday, May 10, 2009 peacefully with the comfort of family by his side, while listening to Frank Sinatra.
Born July 8, 1927, and raised in Lynbrook, NY, Bob graduated from Malvern Senior High School in the spring of 1945. He later received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Hofstra University with the class of 1949. Having formerly lived in Copiague, and later Selden, Long Island, Bob followed in his father’s footsteps by retiring to “Linden Cottage” the family summer home, on Culver Lake.
For most of his working life, Bob was employed in the aerospace industry at such Long Island-based companies as Sperry’s, Grumman, Gyrodyne and finally the Raytheon Corporation, where he retired in 1989.
On July 28, 1951, Bob married the love of his life, the late Dorothy Ann (Niebuhr) McDowell, who he met through his best friend and her younger brother, Henry Niebuhr. As a young couple in love, Bob and Dot could often be found cruising Long Island in a powder blue car with a rumble seat, or at one of the many social gatherings he and his Sigma Epsilon fraternity brothers hosted.
Bob was an avid parishioner, deacon and choir member of several churches throughout his life; most notably Grace Presbyterian Church, Selden, NY; Christ Union Chapel, Branchville, NJ; and Frankford Plains United Methodist Church, Augusta, NJ.
Quite the music lover, Bob spent much of his free time traveling around the community with the choir, singing for those who could not attend church themselves. At an imposing 6'3" with an equally imposing deep voice, and enormous hands built for trapping and tickling grandchildren; Bob was a quiet, loving, well-educated man. He loved to learn and connect with people of all ages; even attending classes to learn how to draw and paint well into his seventies. With such a full schedule, Bob, ever the family man, still found his time best spent surrounded by family.
He is survived by his daughters, Diane C. Stocek and Debra A. Baldwin; his son Robert Frank McDowell, Jr.; his eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
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