Dec. 26, 1942 – Aug. 20, 2024
Worcester – Noelle Ann Dowd of Worcester died Tuesday, August 20, 2024, after a long struggle against lung disease.
Noelle is survived by her two daughters, Amy Ramsay and Rebecca Dee, Amy’s husband Bill and their sons Angus and Liam, Rebecca’s son Henry, Noelle’s sister Carolyn Kinloch-Winkler, Carolyn’s daughters Abigail Westcott and Alicia Kinloch, Noelle’s brother-in-law John Dowd and his wife Linda, and an extensive circle of relatives, friends, and family of the heart.
Noelle was born the day after Christmas 1942, to Francis Roser, a volunteer fireman and plumber, and Jean, a homemaker and visual artist. Noelle grew up in Kennett Square, PA, known to some as “The Mushroom Capital of the World,” and home to the renowned botanical conservatory Longwood Gardens.
Noelle was nine when she lost her mother. Her maternal grandmother, a Quaker woman named Amy Cox, took over raising the two girls. Amy was a source of love, guidance, and inspiration to Noelle for the rest of her life.
When Noelle was in her late teens she met a boy named Jesse Dowd. Noelle credited her best friend Lynne with bringing them together. A late-night drive with Lynne at the wheel, the three of them packed in the front seat. A game of padiddle was involved, and a momentous kiss.
Jesse and Noelle married in August of 1964, the day after Noelle graduated from Millersville State College with a B.S. in Education. They were together 54 years, until Jesse’s death in 2018.
Noelle had painful challenges to face before married life began. She experienced her first symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis when she was 18. At 21 she was in a horrible head-on collision which destroyed her left knee. Doctors warned her she might never walk again. But Noelle had an image in mind that carried her through recovery and long hours of physical therapy, of walking down the aisle at her wedding. And she did.
Noelle and Jesse moved to Worcester in 1966, where she embarked on what would be a thirty-year career as a librarian in Massachusetts public schools. She was part of an inaugural program bringing librarians to grade schools in Worcester. In Holliston she introduced her Declamation Contest, a school-wide competition to foster public speaking skills and share her love of poetry. It was so popular she brought it with her when she began teaching in Grafton.
Noelle and Jess moved to Grafton in 1970, to restore a tumbledown colonial farmhouse and start a family. They quickly integrated themselves into the life of the town, joining the local Lions Club and seeking out opportunities for civic engagement. Noelle was a publicly elected member of the Grafton Library Board of Trustees. She taught Sunday School at the Congregational Church. She delivered Meals on Wheels.
Noelle facilitated countless Lions events over the years, but she was particularly proud of two projects. One was coordinating the assembly of “The Dream Team Quilt”— an Olympic Rings-themed quilt that was signed by every member of the 1992 US Men’s Basketball Team and auctioned for charity. The other was producing an American Girl Doll fashion show, to raise money for the Clara Barton Camp for Girls with Diabetes.
Noelle was a gifted sewist, with a special talent for smocking and hand embroidery. When she retired from teaching Noelle turned her talent into a small business making children’s clothes.
Noelle loved to entertain, regularly throwing open the doors of her Grafton home to old friends and new faces alike. A fan of Julia Child, Noelle enjoyed challenging herself in the kitchen, regularly making more food than her guests could possibly eat. She wanted everyone who came to her home to feel relaxed and happy, and to leave with their bellies full.
Noelle had an immense capacity for joy. Her enthusiasm for life, coupled with her powerful imagination and force of will, were the tools that helped her rise above the pain of chronic illness and frequent health reverses, and keep looking for ways to help others. Just weeks before her death, Noelle read stories to the other residents in her nursing home, hoping to connect with them and alleviate some of the loneliness of being ill.
She said whenever life was feeling too hard, she’d take a moment and “try to find something beautiful. If you look hard enough, you’ll find it.”
A memorial service for Noelle Dowd will be held Saturday, September 14, 2024 at10:00 AM at The Unitarian Universalist Society of Grafton and Upton 3 Grafton Common, Grafton, MA 01519.
If you’d like to donate to the Grafton Public Library to purchase books in Noelle’s name you can send a check and any suggestions of title or subject to:
Grafton Public Library
P.O. Box 387
Grafton, MA 01519
The Roney Funeral Home of North Grafton assisted with arrangements.