William Bill James Dow Jr.

Bill was born in Chester, Montana to parents William (Jim) James Dow and Ellen Florence Dow. He was the youngest of three siblings. Bill’s sister Velda Inez and brother Chester Norman preceded Bill in death. The family moved to Spokane during his childhood years. Bill was close to his sister Velda, and often visited her at her home in Honolulu, Hawaii.

He married Violet M. Peterson on August 1, 1939, in Spokane, Washington. Bill attended Lewis & Clark High School and Violet attended Rogers High School, both rival Spokane schools. They met at the Outside-In restaurant. They were married the day after Bill turned twenty one years of age. The newlyweds moved to Seattle to start their careers. Bill enlisted in the United States Navy and proudly served his country during WWII. He wrote wonderful letters to his dear wife through his service. Much to his surprise and delight a few were read aloud at their 70th anniversary party.

Upon returning from his service Bill went to work for Pacific NW Bell. He held many positions in his 40 year career and found great satisfaction in serving as treasurer of the local Communication Workers of America -AFL-CIO union organization.

Bill was a strong man of faith and was one of the founding members of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church. He served as Usher/Head Usher for several decades. Bill enjoyed being a member of the Lake City Elks Lodge.

He was a loving father and as the only driver in the family served as the “Car-Pool Mom” for Diane’s swim team practices and swim-meets and drove Mike to weekly music lessons and was an active father in the Boy Scouts helping to facilitate Mike to achieve his Eagle Scout.

Bill had a great eye for photography and lighting and took the early self-portrait we used in today’s program. He was an excellent wood worker and welder, skills he acquired in the Navy, and created several family heirlooms.

In their retirement years Bill and Vi had several memorable vacations in Europe and Hawaii. Bill was an avid walker and even with failing eyesight, made his daily jaunts to Lake Forest Park Center. He loved sports radio and TV and truly enjoyed his talking books.

Bill is survived by his loving wife, Violet; son, Michael, daughter- in- law, Mahvash, and their two daughters, Shireen and Shahrzad; daughter Diane and son- in- law, Brook Ellingwood and their daughters, Rianne, Rachel and Olivia. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends and caregivers.

In lieu of flowers, the family would greatly appreciate donations to the Macular Degeneration Foundation, http://www.macular.org.