Earl Lewis Mcdowell

Earl Lewis McDowell, 89, died Saturday, February 11, 2023.

Graveside service will be 11:00 am Monday, February 20, 2023, at Belle Plaine Cemetery.

He was born July 22, 1933 in Wichita, the son of Lewis and Iona (Nichols) McDowell. He attended schools in Wichita, Rose Hill, Mulvane, and graduated from Moran Rural High School in 1952. On July 3, 1952, he married June Moore in Wichita.

Earl served in the United States Marine Corps from 1953 until his honorable discharge as a Sergeant in August 1955. He spent 1954-1955 in Korea.

He spent a short time farming in Eastern Kansas. He worked at Wichita Water Company and Boeing in Wichita, and at Cabot Corporation in Pampa, Texas. He eventually owned and operated McDowell Welding Service in Wichita and Gadsden, Alabama.

Earl's hobbies included hunting and fishing. He could also be found helping others with various projects and teaching his children many things including how to work on cars. He loved swinging with his grandchildren on the back yard swing set that is still standing today.

He was preceded in death by his parents, siblings, Barbara Gaston and Carl Lee McDowell; two sons, Carl Robert McDowell and infant, Earl Lewis McDowell, Jr.

Survivors include his former wife, June McDowell of Belle Plaine; children Kathy Ice of Belle Plaine and Kelly McDowell of Kansas City; granddaughter, April (Ernie) Cantu of Belle Plaine; great grandchildren, Amber (Leroy) Ice of Wichita, and Jordan Cantu of Belle Plaine; sisters, Alice Johnston of Topeka and Joan Staley of Mississippi; and many nieces and nephews.