Thomas Joseph Dowd passed peacefully on Tuesday, May 1 in the company of loving family members after waging a quiet and courageous struggle with kidney cancer. Born in 1935, the son of Irish immigrants James and Catherine Dowd, Tom was the oldest of three children and he remained proud of his Boston roots and Irish heritage.
Tom was predeceased by his wife, Nancy Whitcomb Dowd in 2007. They centered their life around raising their four adoring children: sons, Michael, Christopher, Patrick; and daughter, Maura.
He was the loving brother of James and Mary, who reside in Boston area.
Tom served as a MP in the Air Force from 1954 until 1957. Upon his discharge he entered the health care industry and rapidly rose within the field to serve as CEO of numerous hospitals in Vermont and New York. Among his professional activities Tom was a past president of the Vermont Hospital Association, board chair of the Northeastern New York Hospital Council, a director of Fulton County National Bank, Preceptor of Union College Graduate Program of Healthcare, and diplomat of the American College of Healthcare Executives. A charismatic leader, he greatly enhanced the quality and depth of health care service.
In their later years Tom and Nancy found great joy in spending time with their children and their families, especially as the blessing of grandchildren came into their lives. Tom was a proud man, at times an irascible and always opinionated man, who loved to engage in a good debate around the kitchen table. He will be greatly missed, and his friends and family take comfort in knowing that he is reunited with Nancy. Those who gather to mourn his loss should remember Tom as his family will, a strong man with such an underlying tender soul whose deep voice and personality brought life to every room he entered.
Surviving Tom are Michael (Elicia), Christopher (Tricia), Maura (David) and Patrick (Aimee); siblings, James and Mary Dowd; and grandchildren, Chrystal, Courtney, Andrew, Gabrielle, Sadie, Max, Oliver, Jake, Harry, Alexa and Elijah.
A funeral mass will be held at St. Clement's Roman Catholic Church in Saratoga, N.Y. on Saturday at 11 a.m.
For those who make a donation to Mountain Valley Hospice, Gloversville N.Y. in Tom's memory, the family extends its appreciation.