Thomas James Dowie

Thomas is predeceased by his parents, James and Margaret (Donovan) Dowie, his brother James and sister Margaret (Jellett). His wife of 47 years, Alice (Dwyer), also predeceased him in 2011.

Thomas is survived by his four children: Ann (Edward) Sullivan, Michael (Kimberly Porter) Dowie, Meghan (Matthew) Mayberry, and Sarah Dowie; and by his ten grandchildren, who called him “Luke:” Margaret Sullivan, Brigid (Scott) Allen, Christopher, Kyle and Andrew Dowie, Michayla, Joshua, and Courtney Mayberry, Benjamin and Jessica Weinstein. Luke is also survived by his beloved friend, Barbara Finley Fennelly of Southport, NC, formerly of Guilford, CT.

Thomas was born in Worcester, MA on March 27, 1935 to James and Margaret (Donovan) Dowie, and spent most of his childhood in the Paradise Green neighborhood of Stratford, CT. He grew up sailing and boating on the Housatonic River. He attended the Fairfield College Preparatory School and Fairfield University. He earned his Master’s Degree from the University of New Hampshire and his Sixth Year Certificate at Colby College.

While in his first teaching position at The Morgan School in Clinton, he met a young middle-school teacher named Alice Dwyer. They were wed in 1963. At that time, married or engaged couples were not permitted to both work in the same school system, so Tom began teaching at Old Saybrook High School in 1963. When Alice left Jared Eliot Middle School to raise their family in 1965, Tom returned to Morgan’s Science Department until his retirement in 1997.

Decades later, his students from the 1960s through the 1990s fondly reminisce about their days in his lab, quoting his oft-repeated, “Nothing Sucks, It Pushes.” Many Physics students recall predicting the date of the season’s first snowfall in a Meteorology unit. Those who went on to careers in the sciences and engineering often credit the foundation laid there in his classroom for their later successes in college and beyond. For many years, he enjoyed advising the Student Activities Organization. His children remember him playing Santa, with Alice as Mrs. Claus, at the Christmas Cotillion, cooking hot dogs and hamburgers at Morgan Football games, and refereeing Winter Carnival hockey games on the pond behind the school.

Tom and Alice enjoyed many summers restoring, sailing, and cruising boats on Long Island Sound and points East.

Winters were reserved for UCONN Women’s Basketball fandom, a passion Tom also shared in later years with Barbara.

The family wishes to thank the staff of Middlesex Hospital for their exemplary care and compassion during Luke’s last days.

Family will receive friends from 4pm to 7pm on Friday, September 27, 2024, at Swan Funeral Home, 80 East Main Street, Clinton, CT. Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10am on Saturday, September 28, 2024, at St. Margaret Church, 24 Academy Street, Madison, CT.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Connecticut Brain Tumor Alliance, online at ctbta.org or by mail to: PO Box 370514, West Hartford CT 06137.