David Marr Dower, 88, of Chalfont, PA, passed away in his home on Saturday, May 27, 2023, surrounded by loved ones.

David was born in Westerly, RI, on August 1, 1934, the only child of Richard Earl Dower and Elizabeth Anna (Marr) Dower. He graduated from Westerly High School in 1952. Two years later, he completed a four year bachelor’s degree program in business management from Bryant College, in Providence, RI. On May 23, 1955, he married his high school sweetheart, Sandra Marie Nichols, who survives. David and Sandra were constant companions, raising a family together in four different states, and traveling the world together.

As a young man, David was a paperboy, a job that pedaled him through both high school and college. When he was fifteen, he took a trip to Austria with the Boy Scouts where he was bitten by the travel bug; the bug that never left him all the rest of his days.  

David joined the Naval Reserves in 1954 and served for 12 years in the submarine corps, torpedo division. During that time he also worked as a buyer for the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut, with many of the same men with whom he served  in the reserves. They often joked they built the submarines, and then submerged them. He and his wife lived near the shore in Weekapaug for those years where they raised their three children, who survive; Althea (Greg) Wheeling, David (Denice Stephenson) Dower, and Richard (Jean) Dower.

Leaving Rhode Island, David took his young family to the mountain state of New Hampshire where he worked  as a buyer for Joy Manufacturing in Claremont. The family had a small farm raising animals and growing organic vegetables. On weekends and summer vacations, the family backpacked together, especially in the White Mountains, the Presidential Range. 

Joy Manufacturing moved David and family to Franklin, PA where they lived for 5 years. Moving to Bemus Point, NY David worked as a purchasing manager for American Sterilizer, in nearby Jamestown. When Amsco moved south, David and his wife opened The Mariner’s Rose, a fabric shop in Jamestown, where he learned his way around computers and how to service Bernina sewing machines, while his wife taught sewing classes and sold fabrics and notions. When they closed the shop, he went back to the manufacturing industry, working for Valeo in Jamestown, until retirement.

Throughout these years, he and his family traveled wherever his travel bug took them. David planned each trip in great detail using spreadsheets, Road Atlases, and as many travel points as he could accumulate. In retirement, David bought an RV and  the couple drove their way through 49 states, 8 provinces of Canada, at least 10 states of Mexico, Guatamala and Belize.  On their first trip, they put the RV onto a railway flat car, traveling along the Copper Canyon in Mexico, going through 83 railway tunnels while sitting on lawn chairs in front of their RV,  watching the scenery roll by.  When they retired from their Big Trips, they parked the RV in San Benito, TX for 10 years.

In addition to traveling, David was an avid cribbage player, teaching each of his children and grandchildren the game. This resulted in annual family cribbage tournaments held over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, with the winner displaying a special family trophy until the following year’s tournament.

David moved with his wife and beloved pet, Snuggles, to Chalfont PA to be closer to their children, their grandchildren, Nathan (Sarah) Wheeling, Leslie Wheeling (Rob Graham), Eben (Malaika) Dower, Megan (Michael) Ogata, Will Dower, and their great grandchildren: Lucy Dower, Hannah Wheeling, Benjamin Wheeling, Althea Graham, Robert Graham, Kirk Dower, and also his sister-in-law, Norma (Ron) Heller, who survive. 

David was preceded in death by his parents, his wife’s parents, Thomas and Helen Nichols, and his brother-in-law, Jonathan Nichols.

A memorial service will be held at St Luke’s Episcopal Church, 410 N Main St. Jamestown, NY on June 24, 2023 at 1 p.m.  A second service will be held at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church 1634 Hilltown Pike, Hilltown, PA, on July 1, 2023, at 1:00 p.m.