Horace Dow

Graveside services for Horace D. Dow will be held 10:00 a.m., Monday, February 11, 2013 at Shady Grove Cemetery with military graveside honors. Ministers Daniel Dow and Pat Jones will be officiating. Visitation will be after the graveside service. Mr. Dow was born March 26, 1923 to parents, James and Rena Dow, and passed away at his Pinecrest Community residence February 8, 2013. He was preceded in death by his wife of 55 years, Mary Dow, his parents, three brothers and two sisters, and his two infant grandsons, Michael Scott Jones and David Scott Dow. Mr. Dow was a very loving and devoted husband and daddy. It was very important to him and his wife to bring his children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). His visits with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were among his most cherished times. He was a member of Union Rd. Church of Christ in Lufkin. Before that, he and his wife were members at the Fourth and Groesbeck Church of Christ in Lufkin. In earlier days, the Dows were members of the Bellaire Church of Christ in Houston, Texas for forty years where they had numerous long-time friends. He was a true Christian that lived a life of service to God, and it brings our family great comfort to know that he lived that way to the end. He battled the disease of Alzheimer"s for thirteen years, and it was said by his caregivers at Pinecrest, that from the beginning of his disease, even into his last days, he still prayed beautiful prayers to God. He was a devoted husband and the best Daddy and Granddad we could ever have. At the age of twenty-one, Mr. Dow went through one of the most defining moments of his life. While serving during World War II in the Army Air Force as a Bombardier Navigator on a mission, the B-26 he was flying in was shot down over occupied France. All six of the crew survived the crash and they, along with Mr. Dow, were captured and held as German prisoners of war for ten months until the camp was liberated. He was later awarded the Purple Heart medal. God had great plans for his life and protected him all the way. He leaves behind daughter, Karolyn Jones and husband Pat, son, Guy Dow and wife Joyce, son, Daniel Dow and wife Diana, grandchildren, Natalie Carroll and husband, Chris, Ashley Dillard and husband Ryan, Alex Jones, Bradley Dow and wife, Amy, Emily Dow, Kayla Dow, Matthew Dow and wife Sarah, James Dow and wife Melody, Andrew Dow, Timothy Dow, Jonathan Dow, and Benjamin Dow. Mr. Dow also has ten great-grandchildren: Hannah, Weston and Cayden Carroll, Faith, Luke, Audrey, and Elly Dillard, Everlee Dow, Titus Dow, and Charley Kate Dow. Pallbearers will be Bradley Dow, Alex Jones, Matthew Dow, James Dow, Andrew Dow, Timothy Dow, Chris Carroll, Ryan Dillard and Tony Fears. Our heartfelt thanks go to his second family of caregivers at his Pinecrest home at the George Henderson and Arbor units in Lufkin. We could have not gone through this without their love and support. Thanks also to the wonderful staff of caregivers from Hospice in the Pines who have meant so much to our family. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to Hospice in the Pines, 1504 West Frank Avenue, Lufkin, Texas 75904.