Gilmore Simms McDowell

Gilmore Simms McDowell, Jnr., 102, widower of Henrietta Desborough Phillips McDowell and former owner of the Charleston Coca Cola Bottling Company, died Monday, Oct. 3, on James Island, S.C.

Mr. McDowell was born Dec. 8, 1913, in Charleston, the son of Gilmore Simms McDowell and Frances Boylston Cordes McDowell. He was the oldest living graduate of both Porter Military Academy and The Citadel (Class of 1936).

During World war II, Mr. McDowell served as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army and took part in the invasion of Okinawa. He returned to Charleston and joined his father in the family business.

Mr. McDowell was a past-president of the St. Andrews Society and the New England Society, member of the South Carolina Society, the Society of the Cincinnati, the Carolina Yacht Club, the Middleton Hunt Club, the Agricultural Society, the Huguenot Society, Rotary Club of Charleston and Landmark Lodge No. 76. He was vice president of the Highland Games at Grandfather Mountain, N.C., coordinator of the lancing tournaments during the old Azalea Festival and a member of the board of directors of First Federal Savings and Loan of Charleston and First National Bank of South Carolina. He was a former member of the vestry of Grace Church Cathedral.

He was a man of many talents, ranging from horseback riding and skeet shooting to raising beagles, homing pigeons, camellias and orchids. He had a delightful sense of humor and was easy to identify at the Bishop Gadsden Retirement Community with his regular companion, cockatiel Touey.

His survivors include daughter Courtenay Cordes McDowell (Richard Gregory) of Charleston, and sons G. Simms McDowell III (Elsa) of Charleston and Henry Phillips McDowell (Pam) of Columbia; grandchildren Thomas Sumter Tisdale, Frederick Reese Tisdale, Charlotte McDowell Martin, Jean Matthews McDowell, Courtenay McDowell Saunders and Catherine Phillips McDowell. And seven great grandchildren, three of whom bear his name. He is also survived by his sister Frances McDowell Leaner of Rock Hill.

The McDowell family is grateful to the staff of the Bishop Gadsden and especially to Barbara Jiles for her affection and devotion.

The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12, at Grace Church Cathedral, 98 Wentworth Street, Charleston, SC 29401. Interment will be private. Arrangements by J. Henry Stuhr Funeral Home.

Memorials may be made to Grace Church Cathedral or Thompson Child and Family Focus, 6800 St. Peter's Lane, Matthews, N.C. 28105 (formerly York Place Episcopal Home for Children).