Deceased April 25, 2024
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In Memory
The class of 1974’s 50th reunion celebrations were diminished by the passing of Mark Dowling just before reunion on April 25, following an eight-year-long battle with multiple forms of cancer. The conclusion of his life was marked by limited sight, limited mobility, limited energy and nourishment administered solely through a feeding tube. Despite his minimal diet, Mark always maintained his sense of humor with us, a dry and subtle wit, a compassionate ear, a bellowing laugh and an eternal faith in his Creator which kept him fighting, endlessly supported by the devotion, care and love of his wife, Holly. Having gathered as couples on occasion since Amherst, the original plan had been for the three of us to reunite and stay at Mark’s home. Upon his passing, Holly insisted that we come and stay anyway, which we did, and which permitted each of us to grieve, celebrate and reflect together in the living room now marked by an empty chair.
Mark arrived at Amherst a National Honor Society graduate from Wilton (Conn.) High School and an Eagle Scout. Singularly focused on all he undertook, his time in the library was accompanied by avid devotion to backpacking as well as athletics, the last as a member of Amherst’s varsity track and field team. For the latter, Mark established a college hammer-throw record that held up for many years.
After graduating, Mark’s life was marked by his conversion to Christ in 1977 at College Church in Northampton, meeting and marrying Holly and becoming the father of their two daughters, Rebecca and Elizabeth. His life path had included getting an MBA and working for the James River Corporation but then transitioning into Christian ministry. Heeding God’s call, he obtained an M.Div. and became a chaplain at the Springfield Rescue Mission, where he continued to serve for the next 23 years.
Grateful for the world-class care he received at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the ongoing support they both received from church and friends, Mark was also graced by the joy of becoming “Grampie” to Rebecca’s first child and Mark and Holly’s first grandchild in the year prior to his passing.
Holly was gracious enough to allow the two of us to transfer Mark’s cremains from the funeral home’s cremation casket to the urn in which they were to be later interred. Ecclesiastes 4:12 states: “A three-fold cord is not quickly broken.” The friendship we forged at Amherst was one that will never be. We wish everyone could have a rare, genuine lifelong friend such as Mark in their lives.
Paul Winterling ’74 and Dave Kimberly ’74