Published: September 29, 2006 12:22 am      

‘An era has passed’

Frank Henderson (F. H. “Bub”) McDowell, the seventh president of East Texas State University, now Texas A&M University-Commerce, died Thursday at his home in Commerce following a brief illness.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday at the First United Methodist Church of Commerce. Burial will follow in Rosemound Cemetery in Commerce. Visitation will be at the Jones-Walker and Son Funeral Home of Commerce from 6 until 8 p.m. Sunday.

A&M-Commerce President Keith McFarland said the university community is saddened by McDowell's death.

“With the death of President McDowell, an era has passed,” McFarland said. “His strengths as president were in the fiscal and political realms, and he worked tirelessly for this university until his retirement in 1982 at age 70, the mandatory age in Texas at the time.”

In retirement, McDowell and his late wife, Martha Jo, remained devoted to the institution to which they had been connected for nearly a half century, McFarland said.

“Equally felt was Mr. McDowell's decades of service to the Commerce community,” he said. “This university and this community owe him a great deal.”

When McDowell became assistant business manager at ETSU in 1938, he began a career that spanned nearly 45 years at the university and culminated with his selection as president in June of 1972.

Of his lengthy career at ETSU, McDowell once said that he was most proud of the role he played in helping a small teachers college become a great regional university.

McDowell was born Jan. 5, 1913 in Paris, Texas to Walter Clyde and Della Henderson McDowell. He graduated from the public schools of Paris and attended Paris Junior College before earning a B.S. degree in 1938 at then East Texas State College. He immediately signed on as the college's assistant business manager and successively served as business manager, comptroller, and vice president for administration prior to becoming president.

Two major events in his life occurred in 1942 when he earned an M.S. degree at East Texas State and was married to Martha Jo Lee of Sunnyvale on Nov. 12, 1942. She preceded him in death in 1987.

McDowell became known throughout Texas for his leadership in the higher education community and his detailed knowledge of higher education finance. He twice chaired the Council of Presidents of the state's public colleges and universities.

In recognition of his exemplary service to his alma mater, profession, and community, McDowell was named a Distinguished Alumnus of ETSU in 1982. His wife was accorded that same honor in 1978, and their daughter, Susan McDowell Wood, was named a Distinguished Alumna of ETSU in 1997.

Wood, who survives, is a noted poet and faculty member at Rice University in Houston.

Following his retirement, McDowell assumed an active role in community service and continued his lay leadership in the Commerce First Christian Church where he had been an elder, chairman of the Board, and treasurer.

His community leadership included serving as president of the Commerce Chamber of Commerce and as treasurer of the Friends of the Commerce Public Library, Meals on Wheels, the Commerce United Way and Friends of East Texas State University. McDowell also completed an unexpired term as a member of the Commerce City Commission.

As evidence of his record of community service, which included chairing the Commerce Water District that provided Commerce with its first reliable water supply in 70 years, McDowell was twice honored as Commerce's “Citizen of the Year.”

Preceding him in death were his wife, father, mother, and a brother, Clyde William McDowell.

Survivors, in addition to his daughter, include grandchildren and their partners, Caitlin Wood and Martha Schoolman of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Caleb Wood and Amber Kapela of Baltimore, Md. He is also survived by special friends Steven and Glenna Siebenhausen and Jim and Claire Reynolds of Commerce.

The family wishes to express appreciation to his devoted caregivers, especially Cindy Pinson, Carolyn Newberry, and Connie Stephens.

Memorials may be made to the F. H. and Martha Jo McDowell Scholarship Fund at A&M-Commerce or to the First Christian Church of Commerce.