McDowell, Walter Hoover (1910-1966)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1966 Jun 30 p. 3

Birth date: 1910 Jan 23

text of obituary:

Heart Attack Fatal To Indiana Pastor

Fort Wayne, Ind. — Rev. Walter McDowell, Evangelical Mennonite pastor at Marion, Ind., was found dead at his home by his wife, Ruth, upon returning from nursing duties Tuesday night, June 21. His physician believes that he died instantly of a coronary attack.

His first serious heart attack occured [sic] March 24. He was hospitalized in the Marion General Hospital for 67 days and had been released to his home for only two weeks before the fatal attack.

He is survived by his wife, the former Ruth Lehman; two children, Mary a nurse at Mennonite Hospital, La Junta, Colo., and James a second year student of Fort Wayne Bible College; and two brothers, Stanley of Glennmeyer, Ont. and Percy of High River, Alberta.

Memorial services were announced for Sunday, June 26, from the Central Evangelical Mennonite Church, Marion, where he served as pastor, with Rev. Richard Steiner and Rev. E. M. Rocke in charge. Burial will take place in the family plot at Sweet Home, Oregon, on June 28.

Walter McDowell was ordained an elder in the General Conference Mennonite Church by Rev. A. J. Neuenschwander in 1946. He served pastorates at Lancaster and Zionsville, Pa.; Delft, Minn., Groveland, Ill. and Marion.

His training was received at Goshen where he earned the A. B. and Th. B. Degrees and Western Baptist Seminary which granted him the b. D. Degree.

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1966 Dec 22 p. 12

text of obituary:

REV. WALTER H. McDOWELL

Walter Hoover McDowell was born Jan. 23, 1910 in Markham, Ontario, Canada to Edwin and Fanny (Hoover) McDowell, and went home to be with the Lord June 21, 1966, aged 56 years, four months and 28 days. He had suffered a severe coronary attack on March 24 at which time he was hospitalized. A stroke one and a half weeks later left him partially paralyzed, but he recovered sufficiently to care for himself. He was eagerly looking forward to preaching the Word of God again, when a second coronary bade his soul flee t o his Maker for a grand "Coronation" in Glory.

He accepted the Lord Jesus as his personal Saviour in his early teens and felt the Lord's hands on his life some years later. After almost completing high school in Markham he spent six winters of Bible school in Kitchener, Ontario, followed by a year of mission work around Markstay, Ontario. He began his college and seminary work in his late twenties, attending Goshen College, Eastern Mennonite School, and West Baptist Theological Seminary in Portland, Oregon, receiving the A.B., Th.B., and B.D. degrees.

He was married to Ruth E. Lehman on June 25, 1939 in Molalla, Oregon. To this union were born two children: Mary Kathryn, a recent graduate of La Junta Mennonite School of Practical Nursing, and James Edward, a second year student at Ft. Wayne Bible College.

File:Mcdowell walter h 1966.jpg

He was one of the charter members of the Sweet Home Mennonite church, Sweet home, ore. In the summer of 1945 he was interim pastor of the Alberta Community Church of Portland. In the spring of 1946 he was ordained to the ministry in his first full-time pastorate in the Emmanuel Mennonite Church in Mechanics Grove, Pa., and was ordained as Elder the following spring. He also served as pastor of the Upper Milford Mennonite Church in Zionsville, Pa., Immanuel Mennonite Church of Delft, Minn., the Groveland Evangelical Mennonite Church of Groveland, Ill., and the Central Evangelical Church in Marion, Ind. where he was pastoring when the Lord called him home.

His one great passion was to minister and expound the Word of God. He loved people and enjoyed visiting with them; he was never among strangers. He dearly loved children and they in turn loved him. He was a missionary at heart, not only in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the pulpit and in personal contract but also in promoting mission work in general with prayers, tears, and finances, and especially in the printing and distributing of Christian literature and supporting Gospel radio work around the globe. He had a great compassion to be of service to others regardless of involvement.

He is survived, not only by his wife and children, but also by two brothers, Stanley H. of Glen Meyer, Ontario and Percy H. of High River, Alberta. Preceding him in death were his parents and one older brother, David.

Memorial services were held in Marion, Ind. on June 26, 1966 with Missionary Richard Steiner of Upland, Ind., on leave from Congo, and E. M. Rocke, a retired but active minister of Morton, Ill., officiating, assisted by Pastor R. K. Mills of the Christian Missionary and Alliance Church of Marion and Harvey Driver, Executive Secretary of the E.M.C. conference. The body was then flown to Sweet Home, Oregon for the final memorial services with Archie Kauffman officiating, and burial was in the Gilliland Cemetery of Sweet Home on June 28, 1966. — The Family.

The Mennonite obituary: 1966 Jul 19 p. 469