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In memory of

Wayne Marion Dowden

Defiance, MO

1931 - June 10, 2020

1931 - Jun 10, 2020

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Wayne Marion Dowden died on Wednesday Morning, June 10th, 2020 from complications of dementia and heart problems. He was born and raised on a country farm in Milford, Illinois on September 21st, 1931. After graduating from High School in 1948, he attended on a band scholarship playing saxophone and glockenspiel at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He graduated in 1952 with a BS degree in Chemical Engineering.
He started his first professional job in Houston, Texas with Shell Oil Company. There he met and married Virginia Lee Carmichael Hall in September 1953. He then served two years in the Army at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina as a company clerk. He then returned to his professional career in Ponca City, Oklahoma with Conoco Oil Company. Wanting a change for the family, he then joined Monsanto Company in 1963 where he lived and worked in Creve Coeur and Ballwin, Missouri as well as Columbia, Tennessee. He retired from Monsanto in 1988 and moved to his beloved rural retirement home in New Melle, Missouri near Lake Callaway where he enjoyed fishing, gardening and taking country drives in the local area. He worked as an engineering and quality assurance consultant with PCE Incorporated for a few years. He and Virginia were able to enjoy their retirement by vacationing throughout the USA in Alaska, Pacific Northwest, Southwest and Midwest as well as many providences in Canada. When they were not traveling, they enjoyed there many bulldog pets: Bruiser, Happy, Penny and Maki.
He died in the comfort of his country home in the care of his wife, Virginia, and daughter, Debby. He is also survived by his sons, Doug in Denver, Colorado and John in Pasadena, California along with his daughter in law, Kimberly and grandson, Hunter. Finally, he has many cousins in Milford, Illinois where his ashes will be buried later this summer.

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