×

Eleanor B. McDowell

Eleanor Bailey McDowell, age 82, ended her long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease on March 20, 2011, when she died quietly in her sleep. Eleanor was most recently a resident at the Monarch Center of Saco, Maine, but she lived at 3 Carriage Rd. in Amherst for over 50 years.

Eleanor graduated from Cornell University, with a degree in Child Development, in 1950. In 1951 she married Arnold Neil McDowell and in 1959 they moved their growing family to the center of Amherst and quickly became active in the community. Eleanor was a tireless organizer who participated in the Amherst PTA and the PTA plays, Scouting, The Village Singers, and town census projects. She served as Volunteer Coordinator for the American Stage Festival (Milford) for some 20 years.

Eleanor also worked for Weight Watchers in Milford and Nashua. Later in life Neil and Eleanor took many Elderhostel trips to places like Spain, Italy, and Cape Breton, as well as American destinations.

Eleanor is survived by her husband of almost 60 years, Neil McDowell of Buxton, ME; her sister, Peg Mertz of Eagle River, AK; and four children, Douglas, of Grantham, NH, Lois McAuliffe of N. Grafton, MA, Jean Haskell, of Buxton, ME. and Peter, of Loogootee, IN; two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

The family is holding a memorial reception on Sunday, April 3, 2011, from 2-4 PM in the Amherst Congregational Church. Burial will be at Meadowview Cemetery in Amherst at a later date. Donations in Eleanor’s memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Foundation. (www.alz.org).