Mary Martha (Raisch) Dowson

She was preceded in death by her husband, The Rev. Marvin E. Dowson, parents Clarence Benjamin Harrison and Goldie Zena Todt Raisch, brothers and sisters: Ezra and Mildred Raisch, David and Magdalene Raisch and brother-in-law Charles Bowermaster, Ruth Raisch and Jack Lashbrook and brother-in-law, J.R. Mitchell, Esther Raisch and Orville Yates, John and June Raisch, and Williard and Eva Raisch Werth.

She is survived by sons and daughter-in-law Douglas and Karen Titus Dowson, Milford, Ohio and Dwight Dowson, Dayton, Ohio. She is also survived by many cousins, nieces and nephews.

Martha Dowson was a graduate of Miamisburg High School, 1940, Peoples Bible College, Colorado Springs, CO, 1949. Martha was married to the Rev. Marvin E. Dowson, 1950 until his death in 1993. She was an LPN and teacher.

With her husband she served as a pastor’s wife in eight churches: 1950-1952, Reed, W. VA., 1952-1957, Toronto Pilgrim Church, Toronto, Canada, 1957-1962, Bethany Methodist Circuit, Bethany, Ohio, 1962-1966, Middleport Heath Methodist Church, Middleport, Ohio, 1966-1978, St. Paris United Methodist Church, St. Paris, Ohio, 1978-1979, Lima First United Methodist Church, Lima, Ohio, 1979-1983, Franklin Ave. United Methodist, Portsmouth, Ohio, 1983-1987, Leipsic United Methodist Church, Leipsic, Ohio. They retired at the West Ohio United Methodist Annual Conference in 1987.

At the age of 65, both Martha and Marvin built most of their own home in Bellbrook, Ohio. She lived there until she became a resident of Bethany Village Retirement Home in 2016. In her years in the parish and at her home she welcomed many with warm hospitality, wonderful care and a vital Christian witness.

Funeral services will be conducted at 11 a.m. on Saturday January 4, 2020 at the Gebhardt- Schmidt-Parramore Funeral Home in Miamisburg, Ohio. Services will be conducted by the Rev. Bradford Olson of the Loveland United Methodist Church, Loveland, Ohio. Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday. She will be interred next to her husband at the Miami Valley Memorial Gardens.