JAMES DOWD

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- Funeral for James Darth "J.D." Dowd of New Madrid will be held at 11 a.m. today at Richards Funeral Home.

Dowd, 79, died Sunday, Sept. 3, 2000, at Baptist Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

He was born Sept. 12, 1920, at Hayti, Mo., son of Sidney L. and Sarah B. Dowd Sr. He and Jewell Prewitt were married Jan. 3, 1944, in Marion, Ark.

Dowd was a land planner and leveling expert 36 years with New Madrid Soil Conservation and Agriculture Stabilization Service. He volunteered services by laying out athletic fields and parks and helped with the golf course at New Madrid Country Club.

He was a member of First United Methodist Church, member and past worshipful master of Masonic Lodge 429 AF&AM, Brown-Twitty American Legion Post 595, Eagles Aerie 4206, all in New Madrid, and New Madrid County VFW Memorial Post 7183 in Lilbourn, Mo.

Dowd served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and numerous other distinctions. A retired lieutenant colonel and company commander with U.S. Army National Guard at Caruthersville, Mo., he served in the military more than 30 years.

Survivors include his wife; two daughters, Judy Dowd of St. Louis, Rebecca Bonds of Cordova, Tenn.; two brothers, Ray Dowd of Chaffee, Mo., Sidney Dowd Jr. of Alexandria, La.; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a brother and a sister.