James Newman McDowell

Jim McDowell died April 27, 2021, at the age of 78 in Sequim, Washington, of cancer.

He was born in Portland, Oregon, graduated in the second class of Jesuit High School, and served four years in the US Air Force, including a year as a communications technician in Vietnam. He attended Multnomah College in Portland and Southern Oregon State College in Ashland. He worked at Lockheed in California, ran “Jim’s VeeWee Madness” in Ashland, specializing in the repair of Volkswagens, and worked at Kelly Data and Intel before retiring to Sequim.

Jim was married to Chris Kaul, with whom he had two children, and in 1978 he married Anne BeVier, to whom he was wed for 43 happy years.

Jim was gentle, clever, and laid-back, with a scientific and mechanical mind, several times winning best exhibit at school science fairs. He built hundreds of model planes, cars, and boats. He had an inner joy and retained for his whole life a wonder and enthusiasm about everything in the world. He loved his wife, his dogs, Formula One racing, the outdoors, and God. He liked to slither through the tall grass on his belly to scare grandchildren and taught them to fly his model remote-controlled airplanes and also taught them to shoot ketchup from great heights because it tastes better that way.

He is survived by his wife Anne, children Tod (wife Rachel) and Ian (wife Barbara); grandchildren Mandy, Micah, Makai’o, Moses, and Marvel; and siblings Kathy Ambrose, Thomas McDowell, Mary McDowell, Michael McDowell, and Malcolm McDowell. His grandchild Maverick predeceased him.

No funeral will be held, though a small gathering in Jim’s memory will be held in Sequim in May and a private family gathering in June in Seaview, Washington. Donations may be made in Jim’s memory to Volunteer Hospice of Clallam County, 829 East 8th St., Port Angeles, WA 98632 (vhocc.org). Burial will take place at Tahoma National Cemetery, Kent, Washington. 

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