St. Paul's Episcopal Church

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
425 Cleveland Ave SW
Canton, Ohio 44702
Phone: 330-455-0286
Fax: 330-455-9818
E-mail: office@stpaulscanton.org

Richard Dowding

October 13, 1916 – November 9, 2009

Richard Dowding was a person you should have known!

In fact, he was featured in the Repository newspaper in the 1950s in a column entitled “People You Should Know.” But I’m betting that all of you knew our Richard Dowding very well. He was a member of this church most of his life, except for a sojourn to St. Mark’s, which he helped to found in the 1950s. But we know him well, and apparently, so does most of Canton, especially those who went to school here.

Richard Dowding was a major force for education in Canton, where he gave his 40 working years to teaching and school administration.

Richard, or Dick as some of us knew him, was born in 1916, the eldest of six children. His two youngest sisters survive him, Dr. Nancy Dowding and Mrs. Ruth Cook. Education was important to the Dowding family, and Richard earned his bachelor’s degree at Kent State and his master’s at Columbia University. While he was at Kent State he met Millie, the daughter of Russian immigrants. When they married, they had two ceremonies – here at St. Paul’s on July 3, 1941, and again at the Russian Orthodox Church in Wolf Run. Their three children are Dee Snow, David and Thomas Dowding, who provided Richard and Millie with nine grandchildren. They were married 56 years, until Millie’s death in 1997.

Richard and Millie were both involved in music here at St. Paul’s. Richard was in the Boys Choir when he was young, and Millie sang in the adult choir years later. Brenda Maurer remembers picking up Millie for choir rehearsal and states about Millie, “You couldn’t have known a sweeter person.” Brenda was very fond of both the Dowdings and knew them well.

Richard taught school initially, and then moved into school administration, as principal of several schools in the Canton City School system. Years later, after retirement, he would run into former pupils and remembered them well.

Sara told me a cute story about Richard and Millie, when the children were young.

One of the kids said to his mother, “I don’t want to go to school today.” Millie replied, “You have to. You dad is the principal!”

Most notable about Richard was his strong sense of social justice. Long before the Civil Rights movement, he was working to improve the lives of Black educators. He hired the first Black secretaries in the school system and encouraged them to further their education and experience, and supported their advancement into roles as teachers and administrators. He worked for racial parity in the schools.

Daughter Dee remembers her father as a tireless worker for justice. She says, “Whenever he saw injustice, he did what he could to right it.” He attended City Council meetings and spoke up for what he felt was right. He assumed leadership roles in numerous educational and community organizations and did a lot in the community. The family remembers that he started Arbor Day activities here, and headed the United Fund. After he retired from education in 1976, he remained active, as president of the Stark County Retired Teachers, where he started the scholarship fund. He worked in real estate, and took care of his grandchildren and wife, and he took care of himself too – he swam daily at the YMCA and played golf. His longevity of 93 years surely owes much to his physical vigor.

At the age of 87, Richard married Sara Zupp, a widow with six children. They were both 87, and their marriage before Judge Mary Falvey on June 3, 2004, made the front page of the newspaper. They had met at the funeral of Richard’s brother in 2001, and Sara remembers, “I was in the chancel at St. Paul’s, sitting next to Tas’s widow, and Dick saw me there. He said he looked me over and decided to give me a call!” He did indeed, and they dated for about two years before deciding to tie the knot. It was a lovely relationship filled with joy and companionship and a lot of music.

Sara is a musician. She describes herself as a “Piano Charley” – she played both by reading music and playing by ear. She had a job for 13 years playing studio piano for the Shirley Hothem School of Dance, accompanying little ballerinas, including some of her own children. She had studied piano as a child and was in the MacDowell Music Club’s children’s divisions, the Juvenile MacDowell and the Junior MacDowell beginning at age 10. When Sara and Richard married, she brought him to the MacDowell Club, which they both enjoyed immensely, attending the program meetings regularly. They also went to Wooster for the summer operettas, and attended many concerts at Kent State Stark. They also traveled to California twice, to visit Richard’s daughter and granddaughter, and loved trips to parks. “We were real nature lovers,” says Sara, remembering fondly their time of sitting together at Sippo Lake.

Richard’s children were so pleased by his second marriage, and they love their step-siblings. All of Sara’s children – five daughters and one son – were wonderful to him.

Richard was very active in the Masons, and recently received an award for 70 years of membership. Here at St. Paul’s he was very involved in parish life, was on vestry, and was senior warden more than once. After marrying Sara, who is a member of Faith United Methodist Church, they alternated attending the two churches.

We honor Richard today in this celebration of his life.