Donald Wendell Dow, Jr.

Donald Wendell Dow, Jr., 91, recently of Charleston, South Carolina, passed away on Saturday, November 22, 2025.

Born on September 5, 1934, in Boyne City, MI he was the son of Donald Wendell Dow and Violet Esther Durham. Don grew up in Copper Harbor, MI on the remote Lake Superior shore of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. He attended college at Michigan State for his B.S. in civil engineering and then headed to University of Michigan for his M.S. degree. Don served as an officer in the Air Force, spending a couple of years in Thule, Greenland before returning to the states to marry Mary Louise LaMorre (Louise Dow) and accept a teaching post at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. Don after resigning his commission at the rank of captain joined the Army Corps of Engineers, for the remainder of his career. He spent the next few decades moving back and forth with his growing family from series of Army posts throughout Europe and Williamsburg, VA where he and Louise made their home. Don was stationed in the Azores Islands, in the Netherlands, and at several posts in Germany. When in the U.S., he was stationed at Fort Eustis in Newport News, VA. His Grampian 26 sailboat was kept in a slip on the York River. 

Don loved to sail. He loved to read, especially sea novels. He enjoyed building model sailboats and doll houses. And he loved cats. Upon retirement, Don and Louise moved permanently to Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, where he spent the next couple of decades sailing his Menger 17 catboat to his heart’s content and hosting increasingly large gatherings of his devoted family. He taught the youth sailing program in Colington Harbour. With Louise, they achieved master gardener and volunteered at the Baum Center there.Donald is preceded in death by his parents, his sister Toddie Fischer, and his grandson, Grayson Eberly Walls.

Donald is survived by his loving wife of 62 years, Louise Dow; his brother Elgie Dow (wife Jan); his son, Donald Dow, III (wife Theran MacNeil), grandson Cormac Dow; daughter Mary Martha (Marti) Hooper (husband Joel), grandson Isaac and granddaughter Megan; son Douglas Dow; daughter Githina Maria (Tina) Dow (husband Kevin Blake), grandsons Jacob and Henry Dow-Blake; daughter Mary Elizabeth (Betsy) Walls (husband John); daughter Sarahann Marie Rackl (husband Peter), granddaughter Elisbeth (Elllie). 

The funeral service will be held at 4pm on Tuesday, 12/2 at McAlister-Smith on 347 Folly Road. Burial will follow at Reynolds Township cemetery in Michigan.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to your local animal shelter or rescue.

Expressions of sympathy may be viewed or submitted online at mcalister-smith.com/.

Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to McAlister-Smith Funeral, 347 Folly Rd, Charleston, SC 29412, 843-814-8494.