John Jack Joseph Dowd

John J. Dowd, age 57, known to family and friends as “Jack”, of Stafford, VA, passed away Wednesday, 20 September 2017, at Virginia Commonwealth University Hospital Center, Richmond, VA. He died after a sudden onset of an extremely aggressive bout of Cancer of Unknown Primary Origin (CUP) diagnosed in August 2017. He was the father of Joanie (Dowd) Sabado and husband of the late Diane (Spohr) Dowd.

Jack was born and raised in West Islip, NY, son of Lorraine (Sullivan) Dowd, and the late John J. Dowd. He graduated from West Islip High School and received his Bachelor of Arts Degree at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, GA. He returned to NY and worked for New York City Law Department, Brooklyn, NY. After meeting his future wife, Diane, they moved to Virginia where they married in June 1990, settling in Stafford and raising their daughter, Joanie. Jack obtained his paralegal certification at George Washington University and applied his skills first with CIGNA, Rosslyn, VA and for the past 20 years worked for Arent Fox, LLP, Washington, DC, principally serving as a valued member of the Complex Litigation team.

As a passionate historian, Jack fervently collected historical works, maps and treatises as evidenced in his large collection of books. He had an extraordinary ability to recall information at a staggering level of detail that brought enjoyment to family and friends while visiting historical sites together. And, often resulted in having more information about places than the docents, monks, and proprietors considered experts in their field. Jack’s love for history resulted in traveling within the United States investigating Revolutionary and Civil War venues, including his local favorite, Williamsburg, VA and brought him to many National Historic Landmarks, including the Serpent Mound in Ohio. He also loved to travel to Europe including his favorite city, Rome, Italy on multiple occasions. It was the city of his dream retirement. His most recent trip abroad to Portugal in May 2017, with Joanie and Jeremy, featured a pilgrimage retracing the Knights Templar trails from Lisbon to Tomar.

He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Joanie and Jeremy Sabado, mother Lorraine Dowd of West Islip, brother Paul Dowd (Patty) of East Northport, NY, sisters Arlene Dowd, of Gainesville, FL and Lori Mathieu (Jim), of Manassas, VA, sister-in-law Patricia (Spohr) Pecoraro, Port Jefferson, NY, along with loving nephews and nieces, Christopher Dowd, James Mathieu, Suzanne Dowd, Melissa Mathieu.

Funeral Information

Please join family and friends at a Celebration of Life at 2:00 PM at Unity of Fredericksburg, General Washington Executive Office Center, 2217 Princess Anne St., Suites 101-1A Fredericksburg, VA 22401; phone (540) 654-5305. Reception to follow.

Donation Information

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. For donation information, please select the “Honor/Memory” tab located therein: https://www.history.org/Foundation/development/donateonline/index.cfm