Robert Earl Dowell

Bob died February 8 in Houston, Texas where he lived, worked, and enjoyed life the last 21 years. He was born in 1953 to Earl and Margaret (Larkin) Dowell in Lafayette, Indiana. He graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1972 and Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1976.

Independence and adventure were very important to Bob which his life demonstrated. He loved motorcycles, sports cars, the outdoors, and college basketball (Purdue!). Bob snow skied, hiked, camped, boated, and took many motorcycle trips in this country and in Europe. He enjoyed watching old rock, blues, and jazz DVDs. He never married and greatly enjoyed the freedom to travel all over the world for both work and pleasure. Bob spent many hours and dollars riding and then meticulously restoring his 1972 Kawasaki motorcycle. The project was a labor of love and will continue when the bike, tools, and parts are given to a good friend of his in Houston.

Bob worked as a project engineer in several petrochemical engineering firms, semi-retiring in November of 2016 from Zeppelin USA, founded in Germany. Prior to Zeppelin he worked briefly for Satake in Houston and 18 years for Buehler-Miag in Minneapolis. Buehler is a Swiss based company and Bob lived in Switzerland for more than a year while working for them. He was respected and well- liked by his American, Swiss, and German colleagues.

Bob is survived by his sister, Kathy Halsema and her husband Dave of Carmel, Indiana, a niece Jill (Bart) Thompson of Sullivan, Illinois, another niece Claire (Steve) Spelde of Fishers, Indiana, and friends in Texas, Minnesota, Indiana, Germany, and Switzerland. He had stayed in contact with many of them.

Bob was a generous and fun loving uncle to Jill and Claire and to two great nephews Cade and Cody Thompson and is missed already. The family thanks the staff of Vitas Healthcare inpatient Hospice for the kindness and compassion they showed to Bob and to them the last week of Bob’s life. They will miss his thoughtful pauses, his unique perspectives, and his dry wit.

The family will have a memorial gathering at a later date.