Donald England McDowell went to be with his Lord on January 30, 2019, at Sundale Nursing Home, with his loving wife, Amada, of 44 years at his side. Dr. McDowell was the son of the late Harry C. and Helen England McDowell, was born in Zion, Cecil County, Md., on October 23, 1924.
When he was two years old his parents moved to nearby Calvert, Md., where he grew up. He graduated from Calvert High School in 1941. He had two brothers, David M. McDowell (deceased) and H. Clay McDowell, residing in Calvert.
Dr. McDowell graduated with honors from Wheaton College, Wheaton Illinois in 1946, and from Temple University, School of Medicine, Philadelphia, in 1947. He served in the U.S. Army from 1943-46, while attending medical school. He married May Vanderpoel in 1945. He served an internship at the US Marine Hospital, in New York City, and a general surgical residency at the Veterans Administration hospitals of New York City. He was called to active duty during the Korean War and served in Paraguay, South America, as Chief of the Medical Section of the Institute of InterAmerican Affairs under Nelson Rockefeller (1951-53). He completed a residency in cardiothoracic surgery at Presbyterian-University of Pennsylvania Hospital, in Philadelphia (1953-54). After attending New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary for a semester, he returned to Paraguay as a missionary surgeon under the Southern Baptist Board of Foreign Missions serving as Chief of Surgery at the Baptist Hospital in Asuncion, Paraguay from 1955-74.
Don and May had six children, Duncan E. McDowell, a retired professor of English at the University of South Carolina, Clyde B. McDowell (deceased), a pastor and president of Denver Seminary, Glenn N. McDowell, a pastor in Philadelphia, Heather S. McDowell, deceased as an infant in Paraguay, Bruce A. McDowell, a Presbyterian minister in Philadelphia, and Melody M. Istrati, Missions Director of a church in Bethesda, Md.
Don’s marriage to May dissolved and he married Amada Paredes, of Coronel Oviedo, Paraguay, in 1974. They have two daughters, Joy M. Beckwith, a physical therapist in Larchmont, N.Y., and Bonnie L. Welch, an HRIS Specialist living in Kent, Wash.
Dr. McDowell served as director of the Physician Assistant Program at Alderson-Broaddus College, in Philippi, from 1973-75, then served as chief of the Surgical Service at the VA Hospital, in Clarksburg, from 1975-80. He served as chief of the Vascular Surgery Section at the West Virginia University School of Medicine, from 1980-98. He was a Professor of Surgery at West Virginia University, from 1975-2001. He retired in 2001, as Emeritus Professor.
Dr. McDowell was board certified in general surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, and vascular surgery, and contributed over 50 articles to the surgical literature. He had eight children, 21 grandchildren, and 24 great-grandchildren. He was an active member of The Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, of Morgantown, where he served as elder, Sunday School teacher, and International Committee member. He was president of the West Virginia Chapter of the American College of Surgeons and member of the Board of Directors of the Southeastern Surgical Congress. While in Paraguay, he taught in the School of Nursing and started the first surgical residency in Paraguay. He founded and for a year pastored the Good News Baptist Church, in Asuncion, Paraguay.
Visitation with the family will at The Christian and Missionary Alliance Church, 308 Elmhurst Street, Morgantown from 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23, until the memorial service at 11 a.m. with Pastor Douglas Miller officiating.
Condolences: hastingsfuneralhome.com
