NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Colonel William C. Dow (Ret.), 93, “put out to sea,” Saturday, March 4, 2006. Bill Dow was born Feb. 7, 1913, into a colorful family of sea captains, watermen and stonemasons. He was a native of Milbridge and a resident at Mennowood Retirement Community. He was a veteran of World War II and the Korean War, retiring from the Army Security Agency (ASA) at Arlington Hall in May 1964 and from the National Security Agency (NSA) at Fort Meade in 1977. He was a fiercely independent Down Easterner, who never lost his Maine accent, or dry wit. In his youth, he sailed by the stars along Maine’s rocky coasts and wintered in the Algonquin forest’s lumber camps. After skipping 7th grade, he graduated from Milbridge High School at age 16 and traveled the world with the Army and NSA, often to exotic places he could not talk about. His word was his bond and he charted his own course to the end of his days. He was much loved and is dearly missed. His parents, William H Dow and Jenny Norton Dow; son, Dr. Major Kevin Dow; and eight brothers and two sisters predeceased him. Surviving relatives include his wife of 56 years, Lorraine Dow; daughter, Stephanie Dow Hunter; son-in-law, Terry Hunter; grandson, Travis Dow Hunter, all of Seaford, Va.; and sister, Beatrice Roberts (John) of Waterford; niece, Judy Goodell (Trenor) of York; and nephew, Colonel Tim Roberts (Ret.) (Elaine) of Kaneohe, Hawaii, among others. Interment, with full military honors, will be held 11 a.m. Friday, March 10, at Quantico National Cemetery, Virginia. Arrangements by Weymouth Funeral Home, Newport News, Va.
WILLIAM CHANDLER DOW
