Leslie M. Dow

Leslie M. Dow died on July 3, 2018 in West Hartford. He was ninety-eight. He was born in Vallejo, California along with his twin sister, Lois, to Leslie Richmond Dow and Jennie McKean Dow. Mr. Dow lived in West Hartford for over 58 years and was married to his beloved wife, Jane Handley Dow for 68 years who predeceased him on March 17, 2012. He is survived by his four children, eleven grandchildren, and eighteen great-grandchildren. His children and grandchildren are Diane Cox of New York City and her children Sarah and Tyler, Leslie (Buzz) Dow Jr. and Connie Dow of Cincinnati and their children David, Michael, and Jessica, Donald and Sally Dow of Avon and their children Courtney and Brian, and Marilee and Robert Neff of Bloomfield Village, Michigan and their children Kristin, Matthew, Kelsey, and Jenna. He is also survived by his sister, Marilyn Brusilow of Dallas. He graduated from the University of Pacific (then called the College of Pacific) in 1942. In college, he was proud to have played football for three years for the legendary coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, who provided a great influence on his life and who he remained in contact with over the years until his death. After graduation from college, he enlisted in the U.S. Naval Air Corps during World War II, attending pre-flight school at St. Marys and later reporting to the Corpus Christi, TX Naval Air Station where he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corp in June of 1943. For the next two years he remained in Corpus Christi where he served as a flight instructor. It is here where he met and married Jane Handley who was also stationed there with the Navy. In 1945 at the end of the war, he was transferred to Bingtuo, China where served with the Marines for an additional year. When he returned to the US in 1946 he joined Pan-American Airways as a pilot and flew the airline’s Far-Pacific air routes from his home in San Francisco for 4 years. In 1950 he joined the Travelers Insurance Companies in San Francisco. He continued to fly as a pilot as a reserve with the US Marines at the Ashland Naval Air Station and did so for over 10 years. In 1960, he was transferred by the Travelers to the Home Office in Hartford. Mr. Dow joined the agency department of the Casualty & Property Operations and was privileged to be associated with Harold McKay, Virgil Roby, George Cosby, and other distinguished men in the agency operation. He achieved his CPCU designation early in his career and was eventually named Vice President, Casualty Property Agency Department in 1972. His career allowed him to travel across the country establishing many agency contacts for the Company. He developed a reputation as an effective advocate and leader for both the Company and his industry. Over the years he served on the Board of Trustees of the Greater Hartford YMCA, was a Deaconate at the First Church of Christ Congregational, West Hartford, a member of the Old Guard of West Hartford, and was a member of the Hartford Golf Club for 55 years. In lieu of a memorial service, the family asks that memorial contributions may be made in the name of Leslie M. Dow to the First Church of Christ Congregational, 12 S Main St, West Hartford, CT 06107. For online condolences please visit www.taylorandmodeen.com.