Kathleen H. Dowd

On August 17, Kathleen H. Dowd joined her parents, siblings, and many friends and family members waiting for her in heaven. On May 24, 1940, she became the youngest of five children born to Lawrence Dowd and Beatrice (Keir) Dowd. The family originally lived “on the hill” in North Ghent, PA, but while Kathleen was still a young child, her grandfather returned home from town and declared he had sold the farm and they were moving to “the Valley.” She continued to live in the valley, the borough of Athens, PA, the remainder of her lifetime.

Due to separate childhood illnesses, Kathleen’s twin siblings, Dorothy and Donald, were each held back one year in elementary school. This created the unusual situation of all three graduating together in the class of 1958 from Athens High School. Following graduation, she attended Delcadare Beauty School and had a chair in the salon of Thursa Hastings on Spruce Street in Athens, until the “flood of ‘72” when all of downtown Athens was flooded, and the shop was destroyed. Kathleen then purchased her own property on Pennsylvania Avenue and established Dowd Beauty Shop, which remained in business until her retirement.

Kathleen loved covered bridges.  For many years she and her sister Joyce, and eventually joined by niece Kimberley, as chauffer, traveled far and wide to see and walk across covered bridges. She remembered each one and could tell you an interesting fact about them. Her shop was full of covered bridge memorabilia and artwork!

Kathleen had a love of nature, especially pine trees, white birch, drift wood, rocks, pine cones, flowers, etc., and incorporated them into magnificent wreathes and arrangements. She had a gift, and even had her own table to sell them at her church’s annual Christmas bazaar. She worked on these pieces all year long, and friends would save items for her to use on her creations, pleased to see how they were transformed in the finished product. Kathleen always had a new wreath waiting for the next season on her own door, and she carried her keen eye for décor into how she tastefully and uniquely decorated her apartment. She also had the patience and need for detail to precisely space the old heavy, lead, icicles each year on the family Christmas tree, painstakingly taking as long as the job required, then removing them and storing them away again. Over many years she visited streams and creek beds in Sheshequin and Goose Hollow, or wherever there may have been running water near a family picnic, to collect large stones. These were loaded into the car trunks of Joyce, who was a good sport about it, and Donald, who usually grumbled about his car’s shocks. She eventually turned these into incredible rock walls and yard art when living on Cessna Street.

Kathleen and Joyce had a deep respect for the family’s Irish and Scottish heritage, and they traced their ancestry to both long before technology became a useful tool. They found the Dowds in Sligo County, Ireland, and the Kerr Clan (eventually to be “Keir”) in Scotland, and even found two of the family’s “plaids.” With Kimberley, they went to many Celtic festivals and purchased lovely items covered in shamrocks or thistle. They successfully passed their sentiment onto the next generation.

Many of Kathleen’s family left this earth before her. She was predeceased by her parents, siblings Florence Dowd, Joyce Ann Dowd, Dorothy (Dowd) Adee, and Donald Dowd, as well as all of her aunts, uncles, several cousins, and some very-loved cats.

Lovingly known as “Aunt Kate,” she is survived by her brother-in-law Phil Adee, Worcester NY, nieces and nephew: Kimberley Adee, Worcester NY, Ray (Wendy) Adee, Virginia Beach, VA, and Julie (Scott) Greenisen01, Carlisle PA.  She is also survived by great-nieces and nephews: John (Katherine) Adee, Virginia Beach VA, Jake Greenisen, Carlisle PA, Kelsey (Trevor) Green, West Warwick RI, and Maggie (Jeremy) Greenisen-Orosco, Knoxville TN, and great-great niece and nephews: Wyatt Adee, Gwen Green, and Clifford Green. She also has many remaining cousins.

Kathleen was a lifetime member of the Athens United Methodist Church, and there will a memorial service held there at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 9.

An organization that was dear to her heart was the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). In lieu of flowers, if you wish to remember our Aunt Kate, a donation to UMCOR would be appreciated. Their address:  Global Ministries/UMCOR, GPO, Post Office Box 9068, New York NY 10087-9068, or they can be found online.

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