1919-2014
Words of Remembrance for Brother Patrick Dowd, FSC
Given by Edward Dowd (Nephew)
August 13, 2014
Mass of Christian Burial
Chapel of St. Benilde, Christian Brothers Center, Bronx, NY
Uncle John always had a great sense of humor so it’s very fitting that he has given me one last assignment.
Uncle John was a true renaissance man. He was the original Type A personality. He was an Irish Catholic New Yorker. He was a diehard Yankees and Giants fan. He swam like a fish, having spent every summer in Bayville on the Long Island Sound with the Nicholsons. It was there that he developed his passion for seafood which never waned. He sampled linguini with white clam sauce all around the world!
He dedicated his life to the Christian Brothers and to education. He excelled in the math and the sciences, and never understood why everyone else didn’t find calculus and quantum physics a no brainer. He was everyone’s toughest teacher, and often, in hindsight, proved to be their best. His life touched thousands of people. He loved dogs and had an Irish setter named Palladin and a wiemerama named Max.
Outside of school, he did everything with his band of brothers: Black Paul, Red Paul, and Auggie. He and Black Paul travelled to every continent in the world. Uncle John documented every trip with his other talent, photography. Most people collect magnets. They brought home knives and swords, fertility necklaces, animal parts, and even Tibetan prayer bells! If there was any country or island he didn’t set foot on, he contacted them on his ham radio which was another hobby. His unique vacuum tube collection is housed here at Manhattan. He loved tennis. Golf became another lifelong hobby. In fact, every year he and Black Paul would visit Kay and Warren Muller in California. They played golf every day, and regardless of how they played, they each scored very well. Warren marveled that Christian Brothers could be such creative scorekeepers! He was also a very social person. There was no activity or occasion that did not require a wockle hour or two.
In his everyday life, he was Brother Patrick! But to the rest of us, he was Uncle John who breezed in and out of our lives on holidays, vacations, and on several day trips each summer. Uncle John met routinely with his band of Brothers at the Hoboken Clam Broth House. For the better part of two decades, it was the site of almost every family celebration. One summer Kathy Murphy and I worked rewiring the Paramus Catholic Brothers’ residence., In addition we put up a thirty foot antenna supposedly for the STUDENT ham radio club. Our compensation was an all you could eat trip to the Clam Broth House!
Another summer Uncle John got me a job caddying at the Ridgewood County Club. None of the Paramus Catholic kids could believe that Brother Patrick had a family. Suburban folklore had it that Uncle John actually had pop quizzes the second day of school, asking questions about the author and publishers of the textbooks. I personally sampled the Christian Brothers education at La Salle. The good part was I inherited several more uncles! The bad part was I inherited several more uncles! (Remember, you are LaSalle!)
Growing up, he would always take Kate, Ceil, and I on trips to Long Island or to Cape Cod to visit the Nicholsons or to Rockaway to visit the Sweeneys. We went to every museum, the Cloisters, the World’s Fair, Freedom Land, Palisades Park, the aquarium, Sheepshead Bay (including Lundy’s for clams!), Coney Island (including the Cyclone and Nathans.). Uncle John always joined the family on vacation at Mountain Manor, Twin Lakes, and Windham with Aunt Virginia Sweeney for many years. He was like the Pied Piper with the children and made sure the wockle hours were strictly observed by the adults. By the time Uncle John left, we all needed another vacation! He had a passion for family and kept up on all our comings and goings. He was proud of all of us. I know he’s up in Heaven now, smiling down and hoping I’ll finish soon! Uncle John jammed two lifetimes into one. Truly a life well lived!
(Uncle John has just nudged my dad and said he hopes they serve vodka tonics at the wockle hour!)
Please pray for the happy repose of the soul of Br. Patrick Dowd, FSC
Born John Patrick Dowd in New York, NY, on October 22, 1919
Entered the Barrytown, NY, Juniorate on February 4, 1934, and Novitiate on June 28, 1937
Received the Religious Habit and Name, Brother Cormac Patrick, on September 7, 1937
Pronounced Perpetual Vows in Oakdale, Long Island, NY, in 1944
Br. Patrick died at De La Salle Hall, Lincroft, NJ, on August 8, 2014
FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Viewing from 10:00 am – 3:30 pm
Prayer of Remembrance at 12:15 pm
De La Salle Hall
810 Newman Springs Road
Lincroft, NJ 07738-1608
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Viewing from 3:00 pm – 6:45 pm
Mass of Christian Burial at 7:15 pm
Chapel of St. Benilde
Christian Brothers Center
4415 Post Road
Bronx, NY 10471-3499
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Burial at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Valhalla, NY
There will be no viewing or service before leaving the Christian Brothers Community at 9:30 am
SUFFRAGES FOR OUR DECEASED BROTHER PATRICK
District: 100 masses
De La Salle Hall community: 30 masses
Each community in the District: 1 mass
Brother Patrick died peacefully during the morning at De La Salle Hall after a brief illness. May he rest in peace.
Assignments
1942-1945
teacher
New York, NY
St. Raymond’s School
1945-1955
teacher
Brooklyn, NY
Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School
1955-1959
principal and director
Bronx, NY
St. Jerome’s School
1959-1960
director
New York, NY
De La Salle Institute
1960-1966
principal and director
North Arlington, NJ
Queen of Peace High School
1966-1970
teacher
Paramus, NJ
Paramus Catholic High School
1970-1976
teacher and director
Paramus, NJ
Paramus Catholic High School
1976-1995
teacher
Paramus, NJ
Paramus Catholic High School
1995-2012
resident
Bronx, NY
Christian Brothers Center
2012-2014
resident
Lincroft, NJ
De La Salle Hall
I was recently reminiscing about my high school years and was deeply sadened to hear Brother Pat passed away. I graduated Paramus Catholic in 1984 and of all my teachers and professors that I have ever had Brother Pat was by far the most influential to my life. Until learning physics from him I thought science was nothing but tedious and boring. He made learning phyics so much fun that I always looked foward to his class. I am about to retire as an air traffic controller of 30 years and I would like to thank Brother Pat for how he shaped my life and eventually my career. Thank You and rest in peace. PS I hope you and Max are reunited.