EUGENE, Ore. - Alice Edith George McDowell, 97, of Eugene, Ore., died May 29, 2009.
She was born Aug. 17, 1911, in Graettinger, Iowa, to Ernest Sampson and Edith Turneaure George. On Aug. 23, 1936, in Graettinger, she married Ronald Montgomery McDowell, who died in 1984.
She graduated from Graettinger High School as valedictorian and attended Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She also attended Hamilton Business College in Mason City, Iowa. She lived in Chicago, Ill., and Indianapolis and Columbus, before moving to Warsaw in 1942, where she lived until 1984. In 1987, she moved to Eugene. She taught for a year in a one-room schoolhouse in Northwest Iowa. She was a secretary in Chicago, and as office manager for a mental clinic in Warsaw. She was a life-long Methodist, an active church member wherever she lived. She was also a member of Reading Club and Mother's Study Club, Warsaw, as well as various patriotic hereditary organizations. She was involved in numerous volunteer activities in Indiana and Oregon. From 85 to 92, she worked as a reader in elementary schools as part of the SMART Program.
Surviving are two daughters, Jean Horton, Eugene, and Elizabeth Drzewiecki, Port Orchard, Wash.; three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by three sisters and a brother.
A memorial service will be Saturday at Wesley United Methodist Church, Eugene.
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Memorial may be sent to the church at 1385 Cal Young Road, Eugene, OR 97401; or to Smile Train at www.smiletrain.org or 41 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
