Dr. Roy Frances Dowd

She was born May 9, 1924, to Roy W. and Nina Dickard of the Noonday community in Hallsville. Her elementary school years were spent at Central Elementary School north of Hallsville and in 1940, she graduated as valedictorian of her class from Hallsville High School at the age of 16. During high school, she was a member of the National Honor Society, Student Council, Home Economics Club and Pep Squad. She then entered East Texas State University - now Texas A&M-Commerce - and planned for a major in English with a minor in music and accounting. She was a member of Alpha Chi, the academic honor society, and graduated as salutatorian of her college class. Because of a shortage of teachers, due to the onset of World War II, she taught school at East Delta School in Cooper, along with her older sister, Nina Sue Dickard.

In 1943, she married a soldier, Col. Lloyd R. Dowd, on July 31, in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, where then 2nd Lt. Dowd was stationed at Fort Knox. After the war, she and her husband returned to Commerce for further education, where Lt. Dowd completed his master's degree. They then moved to Lovington, New Mexico, where Lloyd was employed by Mobil Oil Corp. and Roy Frances taught English at Lovington High School. It was there that their eldest son, Lloyd Dickard, was born in 1949. In 1950, they moved to Hawkins, where Lloyd became employed with his father in the Hawkins Telephone Co. A second son, Steven Milton, was born in 1951, and a third son, Robert Earl, in 1955.

In 1955, the Dowds purchased the Big Sandy telephone company and moved to Big Sandy in March of 1956. In the early 1960s they sold the telephone company, which is now a part of Verizon Corporation, and moved back to Hawkins while Lt. Col. Dowd returned to active duty. They lived in Hawkins until 1969, during which time Roy Frances taught school in the Hawkins school district. They then moved to Arlington, and it was there that Roy Frances earned her master's degree and a Doctorate in Philosophy in developmental disabilities from Texas Woman's University in Denton. She was then employed by the Grapevine School District as a teacher and educational administrator. She retired from her career in education in Grapevine in 1986 and moved to Tyler and worked with her older son, Dr. Lloyd D. Dowd, in his dental practice for a number of years. She moved to Durango, Colorado, to live with her youngest son, Robert, in 2009.

Always active in community and civic affairs, and in her church congregations, she served on the board of Big Sandy United Methodist, Hawkins United Methodist Church, Arlington Church of the Nazarene and Grapevine United Methodist Church. She was an accomplished singer and musician; she performed in church choirs and as a soloist for many weddings and funerals. She taught Sunday school and was a member of Fairwood Methodist Church of Tyler. She was the secretary and longtime member on the board of the Noonday Holiness Camp in Hallsville. She also was a member of the elite Mensa, of New York, New York.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Col. Lloyd R. Dowd; and her sister, Nina Sue Dickard. She is survived by her sister, Bonnie Barker Cain and her husband Shelton Cain, of Longview.

She is survived by her sons, Dr. Lloyd D. and Tanya Dowd, of Tyler, Steven M. Dowd, of Tyler and Pamela B. Dowd, of Austin, and Robert E. and Hollie Dowd, of Durango, Colorado; granddaughter, Anna Lisa Jones, husband Tommy and family, Caroline, Grace Frances, Maxwell and Violet of Castle Rock, Colorado; granddaughter, Lydia Dowd Tostado, husband Gustavo and family Gabriel, Levi and Annabel, of Austin; and grandson, Zachary Dowd of Durango, Colorado.

Dr. Dowd has left a legacy of a love of learning, a desire to share that with others, and a devotion to helping children with learning disabilities as well as a strong, Christian faith and heritage.

Visitation will be at 6 p.m. on Monday, December 29, 2014, at Lloyd James Funeral Home. Services will be held at the Chapel of Lloyd James Funeral Home at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, December 30, 2014. Her grandson-in-law, the Rev. Tommy Jones, of Castle City, Colorado, will officiate, and special music will be provided by Ms. Carlita Cates, of Whitehouse.