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MCDOWELL -- Elliott Major McDowell Sr. October 20, 1912 - March 27, 2007 How do you fit a lifetime into a paragraph? Elliott McDowell, Sr., known fondly to the world as Mac, was the embodiment of the American Dream. From his first entrepreneurial venture bringing watermelons from Cape Girardeau to Kansas City in a borrowed pick-up truck, to winning the State Championships in basketball for his high school, from being the handsomest stranger sent to Evansville to be a test pilot after training army air corps cadets to fly in WWII, to stealing the heart of the prettiest girl in town, Mac McDowell flashed his million dollar smile and the world complied. To his family he was everything, and to him there was nothing else but family. Till almost his last breath, he still would proclaim that Dorothy was the most beautiful woman in the world, and his pride in his son Junior beamed from that famous smile. He spoiled his family with much more than they could have dreamed, and was generous and trusting to almost everyone. Strong in his visions and convictions, he triumphed in businesses from used cars to gypsum mines, always with a stroke of luck and a roll of the dice. Often taking great risks, he was never one to be conservative when it came to living life to the fullest. A colossal, strong, healthy man, he survived like a warrior against cancer, two heart attacks, and being struck by lightening. The hero to him often seemed immortal. Yet, like a true Indian Chief, he knew when it was a good day to die. Although we are immensely sad and miss him terribly, I believe we all know that this powerful force of a man lived an enormous amount in 94 years, and is certainly smiling upon us now, surrounded by a gospel choir singing Amazing Grace. And indeed his life was - full of Amazing and full of Grace.
        Published on: Tue April 03, 2007