Robert Tallent McDowell

Robert Tallent McDowell, born October 29th 1944 in Hot Springs, Arkansas passed away at home December 7th 2015 in Gig Harbor, Washington. He is preceded in death by his parents Maurice and Audine McDowell. He is survived by his wife of 49 years Carol McDowell, sons Kevin (Kumiko) and Mark (Yoohee) McDowell, grandchildren Emily, Kate, Ellis, and Jamie McDowell. He is also survived by brothers Stephen and Phillip McDowell and sisters Deborah Clark and Martha Kelcey, and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. He spent his very early years in rural Arkansas before moving with his family to the small southern Oregon logging town of Glendale where he spent the remainder of his childhood. Most summers he would return to his grandfathers farm in Arkansas and he always retained a part of his southern identity throughout his life. His childhood in Glendale was idyllic, with time spent playing baseball, swimming in creeks, fishing and running around in the woods. As he grew into a teenager in the late 1950s it was an iconic time to be alive. Rock and Roll, classic cars, small town movie theatres, drug store soda fountains, he experienced it all, and loved to remember it over the years. After graduating from high school he enlisted in the U.S Navy where he served aboard the U.S.S Finch doing combat Patrols along the coastline of Vietnam. After being honorably discharged from the Navy he finally married his on again off again sweetheart Carol Burgoyne. Who would have know then that it would last for more than 49 years! He soon found himself back in uniform but this time he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. It was during these early years of marriage as a young Air Force couple that sons Kevin and Mark were born. After serving honorably in Texas, South Dakota, Thailand, and Korea was one again a civilian. Using the skills he had learned in the military he began his civilian career as a welder and sheet metal worker going from apprentice to skilled tradesman in just a few years. He worked all around Oregon, and later all over the United States on everything from sawmills to nuclear power plants. He was a master craftsman and he constructed many things on his own time including high quality wood burning stoves that he made for many family members and friends. Later in his career he was able to land a job at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard where he worked his way up from ship fitter to a position as a technician in the environmental and hazardous waste section at the shipyard. He retired in 2006, and devoted himself to a life of study, observation and writing. After retirement his true passion was studying, and he read hundreds of books, and watched hundreds of documentaries on religion, science, metaphysics, philosophy and history. He liked to refer to himself as a seeker of truth, and he wrote everything from pop and country songs to poetry and treatises on religion. We are still discovering writings that we had never seen until after his passing. What he will most be remembered for was his love and loyalty to his family and friends. He was always there to help and give advice whenever asked. He never let us down or disappointed us, even if it meant driving for hours to help us move, or coming over to help with emergency home repairs. He was always there to hear our problems and give us advice, and was never afraid to show us his love and affection, He had a natural charisma that made people want to be near him. Even our childhood friends would spend hours talking to him in their teenage years. He will always be remembered with a song on his lips and a smile on his face, and to us he was the biggest man in the world. A combination of Captain Kirk, Elvis Presley, and Pa Ingalls, he was truly larger than life. It seems almost unimaginable that he is gone, and the void in our hearts willed never be filled in this lifetime, but we know that we will see him again, and that his spirit lives on, exploring our limitless universe forever seeking the truth.